Being Human
by sheneverupdates
Summary: Shingen's experiments do tend to cause a bit of an uproar from time to time. Never like this though. Then again, the very idea of two Izayas is enough to throw Ikebukuro into chaos. Hachimenroppi!Izaya. Shizaya, ShizuoxRoppi, hints of IzayaxRoppi.
1. Label Your Experiments

**Warnings: None for this chapter, but this story will eventually have explicit content. Read the Author's note at the end of the chapter for more information.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Durarara! or it's characters. They all belong to Narita-sensei. And credits to Roppi's character goes to the fan base.**

* * *

Let it be known that Shingen is a brilliant man.

As a doctor and scientist, it is to be expected. He is naturally inquisitive and loves medical mysteries. His curiosity alone has him studying, researching and working for days at a time. His intelligence is sometimes hard to admit due to his playful attitude and idiotic tendencies. Barging into rooms unannounced, constantly asking questions before promptly answering them, and making odd sound effects for everything he does (from flipping through a file to performing an operation). These are only some of the mildly irritating habits he has. Even his superiors find him annoying, but they cannot deny his talent, and his ability of stumbling upon unusual findings. His unparalleled research of supernatural activity and concrete evidence of a few mysterious beings has definitely placed him in Nebula's top ten commendable employees. He revealed some old observational papers he wrote on his dissection of a dullahan; a mythical headless fairy from Irish folklore, also nicknamed the harbinger of death. The assumption was that this being was a myth, the men and women at Nebula were baffled at this discovery. His research was enough to land him his own personal laboratory within the Nebula Corporation. The higher-ups were more than happy to give him a state of the art laboratory for all his hard work.

It was not at all because the superiors were sick of dealing with the increased complaints about the eccentric doctor, and dealing with said doctor himself. Probably.

It was a spacious laboratory with exclusive keycard access. It was well equipped with computers, operating rooms and even had a kitchen and sleeping quarters. Shingen allowed a few of his colleagues to enter and occasionally work on a few experiments with him. Lately, he hardly invited anyone to the lab. This unusual quietness and secretive behaviour was more of a breath of relief than a concern to the fellow employees of Nebula. If one would ask them about his sudden change of attitude, they would simply shrug and say 'That's typical Shingen, unpredictable as usual", or "It's best not to worry about it and to let him be'.

Unconcerned peers. A spacious and secure laboratory. Privacy. It was an ideal situation for anyone trying to hide something. And Shingen, a man whose intelligence is often underestimated, had pulled the strings that would grant him the current circumstances. Because, as a matter of fact, he does have something to hide.

Shingen hummed a tuneless tune as he hooked up the last machine to the body lying on the examination table. The heart rate monitor beeped steadily in the background. The spiking green line reflected off Shingen's ever-present gas mask.

'_Everything is ready_' he thought to himself as he walked around the examination table.

He was more excited than nervous. He has worked on this self-assigned experiment for years, he had been disappointed time and again when his subject failed to respond, and so, he was forced to start again. This time however, he had a feeling that it would work.

He took a seat in front of the computer connected to the EEG electrodes on the subject's temples. Shingen drew a small breath as his hand hovered over a button. He peered over the screen to take one more glance at the examination table. The subject remained motionless, as he has always been. Apart from the miniscule rise and fall of his chest, and the steadily beating of his heart indicated by the heart rate monitor, the subject looked like a corpse. A mess of black hair covered his head and his bangs framed his face, which was lax and free of any expression. He was skinny and his skin was pale. It looked like he had never set foot outside. Which was a completely accurate assumption; this body has never been outside the laboratory. It was made (secretly) within the laboratory by Shingen himself. Animating the body was the bigger problem. The subject was in a comatose state, unless Shingen could get the brain to function properly, the subject would remain this way.

"Hopefully, you won't look as lifeless after this." Shingen let out a breath and pushed the button.

[_Commencing Start-up Protocol_]

[_Overtaking Bodily Function Control: Switching to Manual Mode_]

The machines that were hooked up to the body that sustained its breathing responded. The machines detected that the body was able to breathe on its own, and automatically switched to standby mode. Shingen rose from his seat cautiously, the previous attempts never made it past this stage. Will it actually work?

[_Booting Brain Cognitive Function_]

[_Brain Activity: 20%_]

[_Brain Activity: 35%_]

Is it working...? The doctor's eyes flashed between the subject and the monitor, trying to track both of their statuses simultaneously.

[_Brain Activity: 55%_]

[_Brain Activity: 68%_]

There. He saw his finger twitch. The subject is physically responding. A good sign. A very, very good sign. The doctor abandoned his seat behind the monitor in favour of watching the boy up close by the examination table.

[_Brain Activity 76%_]

[_Brain Activity: 83%_]

His pupils were dancing beneath his eyelids, his eyebrows twitched. The doctor's breath stilled as he watched the boy's whole face grimace and as he parted his lips to let out a soft groan.

[_Brain Activity: 100%_]

The boy opened his eyes and quickly shut them from the harsh light. He raised a hand to shield his eyes from the light above, he turned away and focused on the less blinding machines at his bedside, then to the doctor standing next to him.

The creator and the creation locked eyes for the first time. The doctor recognized that warm blossoming feeling in his chest as pride. It wasn't a completely foreign feeling, though he only felt it on two previous occasions. Once when he landed a date with the most sought after girl on campus and second when he first held his newborn son.

Kishitani Shingen smiled from beneath his mask, "It's nice to finally meet you"

The boy remained silent, and gazed at the doctor with his ruby red eyes.

* * *

The first few days was filled with body examinations and checkups. As soon as he confirmed the boy was working properly, Shingen began teaching his creation how to read, write and speak. He taught him English first, being the most complicated language, and then taught him Japanese, his native tongue for convenience's sake. After he gotten use to both languages and was able to communicate properly, the doctor started broadening his teaching regimen. Shingen instructed him on grade school level math, science, social studies, music, etc, and gave him booklets for homework.

His young pupil started slow, but finished the assigned work quicker than anticipated. Surprised, the doctor gave him slightly more advanced workbooks, and instructed him to complete on his own. His pupil looked slightly annoyed at the seemingly never-ending cycle of work, but took his work to a table and resumed working. Shingen looked over his work and found minimal mistakes, but for the most part, the boy understood what he was doing. The man felt another wave of pride at the boy's accomplishment, it was a nice feeling, and it came more often as of late; it was like raising Shinra again. He went over to the still working young man and smacked the back of his head with the workbooks. The younger male yelped and spun around to stare incredulously at his attacker.

"W-what was that for?"

"You made some mistakes on these. Review them, and learn from your errors." Shingen sang in an annoyingly cheerful tone.

The young man scowled at the older man, and snatched the book from his grasp. The doctor simply chuckled and said "No need to pout, work is not a man's punishment my boy, but a stepladder towards greater rewards"

The younger man just grumbled and turned back to his work. Shingen nodded and went off to do his own work, if he was to keep up his privacy; he needed to finish his work from time to time and keep his coworkers out of his hair.

When he was out of earshot, the young raven-haired boy muttered,

"Rewards? When have you ever given me a reward?"

A day later Shingen's charge handed back his assigned work and the corrected booklets. Shingen reviewed them, and handed him another set of booklets with more advanced work. The boy glared, but took the work without a word and began working on it immediately. The doctor was surprised when the boy returned a few hours later with a pile of completed workbooks. He took the work and gave him highschool level material. It was a bigger jump than what he had planned on giving him, but the boy was clearly getting bored and he seemed to be handling the workload easily, so he decided to quicken the pace. Again, the younger boy took his work, albeit a little forcefully, and headed back to his usual spot to work.

Over the next few days Shingen noticed the boy began to finish his work at a quicker rate and complete them with less mistakes. It was fascinating. It seems as though his academic progress has increased at an exponential rate. When his pupil handed back his university level calculus workbooks, Shingen congratulated him for the completion of his home-schooled education.

"Excellent! I wasn't expecting these back so soon. You've done well my boy. Though I do find it odd; the more advanced work I hand to you, the quicker you complete it."

The boy in question just shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck, "I guess once I understood the basic stuff, the advanced work just used the same concept but applied it differently...I think" he paused as his eyes glazed over in thought. "But still...I feel like I already knew some of these things, and I'm slowly starting to remember. It's strange."

Shingen's gas mask covered his surprise from showing, "Is that so? That is an...interesting revelation"

The younger man looked at Shingen in confusion, "But, you told me that you created me. If that's the case, then isn't it strange that I remember things that I shouldn't? Why aren't you surprised about this?" he narrowed his eyes "Did you lie to me again you damn doctor?" he growled as he grabbed the collar of the man's white lab coat.

"Ah! Oww! Is this how you treat your elders? I'm sure I instilled manners into that synthetic brain of yours- Ow ow! Okay sorry! The reason I'm not too surprised is because I suspected that since I programmed a specific learning function into you, you are already predisposed to this type of information! Good grief, what is this, jumping to the conclusion that I lied to you? Ow, please let go now, I can't breathe-oof!" the younger man promptly unhanded the doctor. He watched the older man cough and straighten up.

"I see...Sorry, I guess" he said, refusing to meet Shingen's eyes. Or where his eyes would be behind his mask.

Shingen studied his younger pupil. He actually lied about the learning function. The only information he implemented into his brain was basic instincts, manners (which he is planning on checking) and a conscience. These were the only things he deemed necessary at the time. He only lied because he didn't have an answer himself. He supposed he should thank _that guy's_ good genes. Shingen heard through his own son that he kept a high rank in all his classes, and he was a quick learner to boot. That was the only explanation he could think of. The doctor was very grateful that he chose to take stem cell samples from him.

Shingen clasped his charge's shoulder, "I believe it's about time I gave you a name"

The younger man looked up at him in bewilderment "A name? Isn't that something you should have given to me from the start?" his face melted to annoyance at his own revelation.

Shingen ignored him and placed his hand at the chin of his mask "Hmmm, what about Berga? That sounds like a smart sounding name"

The nameless boy grimaced.

"No? Hmm, what about Izumi?"

"...that's a female name"

"Psyche?"

"…Is that even a name?"

"I really like the name Shinra..."

"That's your son's name!"

"That's true…I can see how that would be a problem. Hmm. I got a good one, Hachimenroppi. Or Roppi for short." Shingen nodded to himself "Yes, that's a good name for a smart boy of many talents such as yourself."

The younger one looked like he was going to argue but paused at Shingen's reasoning. He felt a little happy at the way Shingen bluntly praised him. "I guess that's not such a bad name," he reluctantly agreed, he sounded out the name for himself "Roppi. My name is Roppi"

Shingen beamed through his mask, "This is great! I wonder why I haven't thought of this earlier! Now I have a name to call you! From now on, I shall call you by your name, Roppi-kun"

Roppi nodded and let his lips quirk into a ghost of a smile. It was times like this when the doctor was semi-tolerable.

"And you can call me Papa!"

"...No"

Pity it would never last long.

* * *

**[Author's Note] Well, here is the first chapter of my new story Being Human. This wasn't originally the first chapter, but after writing the original, I thought that a bit of background information of Shingen and Roppi and their relationship was in order.**

**Just a little warning, this story will eventually have some shounen-ai, I am not entirely sure if it there will be yaoi. I have never written lemon scenes, but I am willing to give it a shot if the story heads in that direction.**

**This is the first time I've written a multi-chapter fanfiction, so if there are any factual, contextual or grammatical mistakes, then don't hesitate to point them out. Researching and editing will only get me so far.**

**I do make references in my writing. Here's one you may have missed (or noticed if you are awesome), the name "Berga" is from another series another series called Baccano! that the author of DRRR! wrote. And he's a bit of an idiot ^^;;**

**Until next time! Please review and tell me what you think!**


	2. Oh, The Things They Tell You Online

**Disclaimer: I own Durarara! ...ha, I wish. But seriously, no, I don't.**

* * *

It was roughly a month and a half after Roppi was awakened, and Roppi had completed his education that Shingen had setup for him. Shingen had asked his superiors at Nebula Corporation for a four-month long break for his own private research. When they questioned him what he was working on, he vaguely replied that he would let them know when he finds out himself. Already used to his antics, they simply shook their heads and granted him permission with the condition that he gives them a full report when he was done and he does not neglect his regular duties for the Nebula Corporation. As it was, thanks to Roppi's quick learning, Shingen was ahead of schedule. He gave the boy several movies, magazines, books so he had something to pass the time for now. He also brought a newspaper for him every day, and even showed him how to use the computer.

The boy seemed to be in higher spirits with the change of pace, especially when he received Shingen's newest gift.

"You know, that coat actually makes you look even more like your donor"

"My what?" he turned to face the doctor as he slipped into his new black coat, lined with red fur.

"The man who gave his stem cells samples to me so I could make you," the doctor explained as he jot down some notes on a file he was looking though. "Didn't I ever mention him?"

"...no, you left out that particular detail" he deadpanned. "But that's fine, the fact that I'm not completely man-made and I _actually have a biological relative _is apparently a subject for casual conversation and _not_ a big deal at all"

"Huh, I figured you'd be a little more upset over this...oh, that was sarcasm was it? Hahaha! You almost got me there", Shingen laughed.

Roppi pinched the bridge of his nose. This man probably created him just to see if he could irritate someone to death. It seemed like something he would do. He felt the cuff of his sleeve brush against his face. It reminded him that he was still wearing the new jacket Shingen bought him. The feeling of the fur against his cheek felt soothing and diminished the irritation he felt. It was so warm and soft. He really couldn't stay mad at Shingen after he gave him such a nice gift.

"So, who is he?"

"Hm? Oh, your donor? His name is Orihara Izaya, he is currently an information broker in Shinjuku. He is a shady guy, the worst kind of person you would ever meet."

"How reassuring..."

"He may be an incurable snake, but even I can't deny he's quite the character. You're a spitting image of him. It's a pity that you don't display the same exuberance he does, your company would be a lot more amusing" the doctor noted.

He scoffed. "Well pardon my sorry excuse of an existence"

The doctor didn't reply and continued to shuffle through his papers, humming absentmindedly. Roppi frowned at Shingen for ignoring him. He was also a little annoyed that the doctor thought he was worse company than the 'worst kind of person you would ever meet', but he thought likewise with the doctor's company.

Still, the sudden revelation of a mysterious donor left Roppi with several questions. He knew what the doctor wanted from him; he wanted to create a perfect "functioning" human being with his own hands. After he achieves his goal, Shingen wouldn't have any use for him (Roppi didn't want to think about what would happen to himself after that). However, he was unsure about this donor's involvement. Did he want someone who looked like him? Was he a replacement of some sort? Or was he like the doctor, enthusiastic with the idea of creating a pseudo-human? Roppi had no way of contacting his donor, so he simply asked the doctor for answers.

"About my donor, why did he agree to create me? What does he benefit from this? Why haven't I ever met him?"

"Hm, so many questions. Good to know your inquisitive nature is functioning well" The doctor put his pen down and grasped the chin of his gas mask. "Ahh... Let's see, for your first question...hmm, no clue, I pass. Next question...um, right... pass. And for the last question-"

Roppi's eyebrow twitched. "Let me guess, pass?"

Shingen laughed and held his hands up defensively "Ahaha…that's right. Well, I don't know the answer to any of those because I haven't discussed the progress of this experiment with him. In fact I haven't even kept in touch with him since I started!" he proclaimed proudly.

Roppi stared at Shingen in disbelief. "So...he doesn't even know that the experiment was successful? Or the fact that I exist?"

"Nope! Ha ha! Poor fool, he's probably been waiting to hear from me all this time! But the great Kishitani Shingen will leave him hanging!" Shingen threw his head back and laughed.

Roppi lifted his brows at the doctor, and he let out a quiet chuckle. He actually found Shingen's antics amusing when he wasn't the poor soul at the receiving end of it.

"You have a few screws loose, old man. Let's just hope that he isn't the type to do something drastic if he finds out" he said as he turned to walk away "I'm going to bed. Good night" he called out before walking into the room adjoining to the lab.

Shingen's laughing died down and he glanced at the doorway the boy just disappeared though.

'_Something drastic, huh?'_

It wasn't just Izaya that Shingen was worried about who would do something drastic if Roppi's existence was discovered. With a body made completely through cell fermentation, and a programmable synthetic brain, Roppi was a gold mine to scientists everywhere. If anyone ever got their hands on him, they would take him apart, bit by bit, to understand how such a feat was possible, and exploit it for all its worth. Any fool could see the potential mass-producing humanoids that can be programmed to carry out their will. They could sell the technology to anyone with the right amount of money. Warlords could make armies of faithful soldiers. Crime lords could make subordinates, hitmen, and freelance workers that work for zero pay. Even politicians could make doubles of themselves for safety or even make doubles of their opponents to tarnish their reputation. The possibilities were endless. Shingen would not allow that to happen. He wouldn't let anyone abuse his research like that.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the only thing Roppi was in danger of. Orihara Izaya worked in a shady business. Any mess Izaya gets into, Roppi would be involved as well. Given that they both share the same face. It was also troubling that Izaya, as an informant, and someone who worked in the underground society, had a lot of enemies; people he has taken down in the past, unhappy clients, rival informants, opposing yakuza members, or just people who dislike him in general. All these people become Roppi's enemy. They'd probably hurt Roppi without even realizing they got the wrong guy.

'_Bastards_', he thought, directing his anger at no one in particular. Shingen had already considered countermeasures in case Roppi was put into danger or pursued. He thought the process was harsh, but he hardened his resolve as he recalled the potential dangers Roppi had in store. He hoped that the boy would continue to be carefree and happy for the next few days. The boy deserved a break, especially before what Shingen has planned for the next four months. He could only hope that the boy would not break before he was through.

* * *

CHATROOM

Kanra: Good Eve-ning~! ヽ(´▽`)/

Tanaka Taro: Good Evening

Setton: Evenin'

Hachimen: Hello

Tanaka Taro: Oh, we have a new member in the chat

Setton: Hello Hachimen-san

Hachimen: Hi

Hachimen: I'm a little new at this...it's my first time using these chatrooms

Kanra: Yeppppp! I found Hachi-chan struggling in another chat, he was so funny, I decided to invite him here, lol

Kanra: By the way Hachi-chan, remember that 'lol' is an abbreviation for laugh out loud ^_^

Hachimen: You don't need to tell me twice!

Hachimen: And who the hell are you calling Hachi-chan?

Kanra: Uwwahhh! Hachi-chan is scaryyyyy~~~

Tanaka Taro: Kanra-san don't tease Hachimen-san too much

Setton: Nice to meet you Hachimen-san, where are you from?

Hachimen: I live in America

Tanaka Taro: Oh wow! That's cool! Where in America do you live?

Hachimen: ...

Kanra: I already tried asking him that, he's too shy to answer (*^∀^)=3

Tanaka Taro: Ah I see, makes sense...when I was a first timer, I was also cautious about what I said online. Maybe over time you can gain our trust :)

Hachimen: Sorry, thanks for understanding. And also, what does ":)" mean? I keep seeing that everywhere

Kanra: Turn your head sideways dummy! It's a happy face! They're called emoticons. Were you born yesterday or something?

Kanra: And how come you never asked about mine? I've been using them the whole time!

Hachimen: That's because I just ignore most of the stuff you say

Tanaka Taro: LOL

Kanra: Ehhhhhhh? How mean! (ﾉ ´Д｀)ﾉ

Setton: Lol, If you tease people, they will tease you back, Kanra-san~

Kanra: Hmph! You guys are no fun!

Hachimen: So, If you don't mind me asking, where are you guys from?

Setton: I live in Ikebukuro, Japan

Tanaka Taro: Same here

Kanra: Shinjuku!

Hachimen: Oh, I know those places, so you all live near each other?

Kanra: Yeppp!

Hachimen: I see...what's it like where you guys live?

Tanaka Taro: It's really exciting, there are lots of things to see here, the restaurants, the arcades, the shops, they're all great. I'm new to Ikebukuro myself, and it is really something. It's way better than my hometown, I was pretty much stuck in the middle of nowhere, the only exciting thing I had was my computer ( ^_^;)

Hachimen: Is that so...that kind of sounds like my situation. I don't really get out much often here.

Kanra: Aww, poor Hachi-chan! You are missing out so much! Never fear! Kanra-chan is hereeee! I shall fill you to the brim with the latest Ikebukuro gossip!

Hachimen: Ah...thanks...

Tanaka Taro: There she goes again ( ^_^;)

Kanra: Have you heard of the online gang called Dollars? Or the Black Motorbike? The beast of Ikebukuro? Which one do you want to hear about first?

Hachimen: ...

Setton: Kanra-san, that's overwhelming. You can't introduce all those things at once.

Kanra: I can't help it~ ┐('～`；)┌ It's not every day I run into an Ikebukuro gossip virgin! Kya!

Setton: ...you sound like a pervert when you put it like that

Tanaka Taro: lol, you really do

Kanra: Oh you two, I'm only kidding. So Hachi-chan~ tell me, who do you want to hear about first? Hmm~? Oh, maybe you want to hear of the most recent rumour floating around Ikebukuro?

Setton: Oh no ... please don't talk about scary things

Tanaka Taro: Are you talking about the Slasher?

Hachimen: The Slasher?

_-Saika has joined the chat-_

Tanaka Taro: Eh? Σ(ﾟДﾟ)

Kanra: Uwahh! Speak of the devil, and he comes running!

Hachimen: ?

Saika: Cut

Saika: I want to

Saika: Cut.

Saika: Cut. Cut.

Saika: Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut Cut

Saika: I want

Saika: to cut

Hachimen: What is this?

Saika: I want

Saika: Mother

Kanra: Don't worry about it Hachi-chan, this happens a lot ( °∀°)=3. Spammer begone! Pyun! Pyun!

Saika : Mom

Saika: to cut

Saika: to love

Saika: Want to love

_-Saika has left the chat-_

Tanaka Taro: ...

Setton: Scary...

Hachimen: ...what was that?

Kanra: Well Hachi-chan~ Let me start by telling you the story of the Slasher...

* * *

Roppi (or Hachimen as he goes by in the chatroom) chatted with his newfound online friends for the remainder of night. He learned a lot about the strange happenings in Ikebukuro. Lately, there has been reports of people getting stabbed by a mysterious assailant. There seemed to be no connection between the victims; it appears that the attacker targets people at random. People have started to call this person 'the Slasher'. There have been eyewitnesses claiming to see the Slasher before it attacks. They described the Slasher as a dark figure with red glowing eyes that disappeared as quickly as it came. It was almost like something out of a movie. It was way more interesting than anything Roppi read about in the American newspapers. After his new online friends finished explaining about the Slasher incidents, it was already late. Tanaka Taro and Setton called it a night and logged off the chat room. Kanra stayed back and continued to chat with him for a while before logging off herself. She promised to keep him updated and tell him more about the strange happenings of Ikebukuro.

A week passed by and Roppi chatted with the trio every day. He learned more about the urban legends of Ikebukuro, like the mysterious online gang called "Dollars". Apparently, each member got an anonymous invitation to join the group. No one knows how big the group is, or who they are, or what's their purpose, or who the founder is. It was all so interesting, but what interested Roppi the most was the monsters, like the Slasher, that lurked in Ikebukuro.

CHATROOM

Kanra: The Black Rider is one of the biggest discussed legends I'd say. The rider ride a black motorbike that is so dark, it doesn't reflect any light. He's like a shadow. You can't even hear the roar of the engine when he passes by, the bike only makes the sound of a horse.

Kanra: Lot's of rumors floating around about what's his purpose. Some say he is a "grim reaper", or he is a "hero of justice". But the most interesting rumours are the ones about what's under his helmet

Hachimen: Under his helmet? As in his identity?

Kanra: Sort of~~ There are rumours floating around, that the rider...

Kanra: doesn't even have a head...

Hachimen: ...If you're trying to scare me, that was a lame attempt Kanra-san...

Kanra: Pooo! You're no fun (≧ ε ≦ ;) Well you don't have to believe me. There are pictures of him all over the net, but people are still skeptical if the Black Rider is real or not. I guess I can't blame them for believing such a unbelievable existence, can I? v(￣ｰ￣)v

Hachimen: It does seem like the type of thing that you'd have to see to believe. It's like that character Headless Horseman from the Brother's Grimm.

Hachimen:...Have you ever seen the Black Rider before Kanra-san?

Kanra: I have. But you won't believe me either way would you?

Hachimen: I'm not really sure. But, I know a few things that you probably wouldn't believe either, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.

Hachimen: But, if it were true, that would be cool. I'd like to hear more about the Black Rider, if you hear anything else Kanra-san

Kanra: Hee hee, Hachi-chan likes monster stories? How cute~ any other stories you'd like the amazing Kanra to tell? Maybe in exchange for one of the things you know that I 'wouldn't believe'?

Hachimen: Maybe. You said something about the beast of Ikebukuro before, can you tell me more about that?

Kanra: That guy huh? That beast would be Heiwajima Shizuo. He really is a beast you know~ Horrible temper, insane strength, and absolutely no brain! He's just a big headache, he should just die already.

Hachimen: ...he isn't an ex-boyfriend of yours is he?

Kanra: Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhh? Don't say such disgusting things! Even for a joke, that's taking it too far! (;;≥⌂≤)

Hachimen: Ah… sorry. I just got that vibe from the way you were talking about him, it just sounded personal

_-Setton has joined the chat-_

Setton: Evenin'

Hachimen: Hi Setton-san

Kanra: Who'd go out with someone like Heiwajima Shizuo? He's got the charm of a rhinoceros. A stupid stinky rhinoceros! (*｀∧´)

Setton: Ah, today's topic is Heiwajima Shizuo-san?

Kanra: Nope~! I've already explained everything Hachi-chan needs to know about that delinquent! So time for another topic, I'm getting sick of talking about that guy ^_^;

Hachimen: But all you said was that he was strong and stupid…

Kanra: And that's exactly all there is to know about him!

Setton: That's not true. Heiwajima Shizuo is a nice guy when you look past his temper

Kanra: Objection! How can you look past his temper when he gets mad all the time? It's a part of who he is. He's an uncontrollable beast, he hurts anyone unfortunate enough to get in his way.

Setton: But he doesn't mean to hurt anyone, unless they are delinquents that pick fights with him... but you can't say he's a monster if he doesn't like to involve innocent people

Kanra: Even if he doesn't like to, he still does. And if you're unwilling to call him a monster for that reason, then you deny his strength is enough to label him as a one.

_-Tanaka Taro has joined the chat-_

Tanaka Taro: Hi guys, how is everyone?

Hachimen: Maybe Tanaka Taro-san can settle this

Tanaka Taro: Eh? Me?

Hachimen: What do you think of Heiwajima Shizuo? Kanra-san says he's a short-tempered monster, Setton-san on the other hand says he's a good person. I don't know what to believe.

Tanaka Taro: …well, I'd say they're both right. When I first came to Ikebukuro, my friend told me to stay away from Heiwajima Shizuo-san, the blond-haired beast in a bartender suit. I realized why after I met him, he's super strong. He beat up a gang of thugs in an instant.

Kanra: Told you!

Tanaka Taro: But, Heiwajima-san only beats up people who start fights with him. I don't know him personally, but I know a few friends of his, and I've seen him when he was calm as well. And I don't think he's a bad person, just unbelievably strong.

Setton: It's true, I know he has insane strength, and a short temper, but he...means well

Kanra: HA! Means well? Geez Setton-san! You're giving him too much credit! All that goes through that tiny head of his is "Kill Kill Kill!"

Hachimen: Is he really that strong?

Tanaka Taro: No doubt about it. He's known as the strongest guy in Ikebukuro. He's the last person you'd want to pick a fight with. I saw him punch a guy at least 30 feet off the ground

Hachimen: 30 feet? Are you serious or is that an exaggeration?

Setton: No if it's Shizuo, that's definitely within his ability. I saw him rip a telephone pole off the ground once.

Kanra: He got hit by a truck, and walked away like it was nothing! Seriously, that guy just won't die!

Hachimen: That's...unbelievable

Tanaka Taro: I saw him throw a vending machine during one of his fights with Orihara Izaya. He lifted it without a sweat.

Hachimen: ? Orihara Izaya? You mean the information broker from Shinjuku?

Tanaka Taro: Ehh? You know him? Σ(ﾟДﾟ)

Kanra: Oh my, an introverted boy from America has heard of Orihara Izaya? What a twist!

Setton: I didn't know he was that famous...

Hachimen: Ah...no, I don't know if he's famous or anything, but the guy who looks after me told me about him. He has family in Ikebukuro, that's how he knows about him.

Setton: Wow, what a coincidence.

Kanra: What kind of a person is your caretaker Hachi-chan?

Hachimen: Ah...that guy is an idiot and plain annoying. And also, is it normal for someone to wear a gas mask all day? He may be a doctor, but wearing it even when he's off work, it's just plain weird

Tanaka Taro: lol he sounds like a handful

Setton: G-Gas mask?

Setton: And you said he's a doctor?

Hachimen: Technically, yes, but he does more scientific research, than actually treating people. The gas mask makes more sense for a scientist rather than a physician...but, all day?

Kanra: Hachi-chan is being open~ I feel like I've gotten to know a little more about you ^_~

Hachimen: Yeah, I figured it's ok to let you guys know a little more about myself, since you all are so open with me. And don't wink at me. It's creepy.

Setton: Um...sorry, I have to go check something. I'm logging off early

Setton: Bye, everyone

_-Setton has left the chat-_

Tanaka Taro: Wait, so soon?

Tanaka Taro: Gah, she left already...

Hachimen: Did I say something wrong?

Kanra: Weeeelll, that's all for me today as well! Bye byeeeee bii~~~!

Tanaka Taro: Ah! Kanra-san too?

_-Kanra has left the chat-_

Tanaka Taro: Um, did I miss something?

Hachimen: I... feel the same way =_=;

Tanaka Taro: lol, well it's alright I guess. Anyway, Hachimen-san, did you watch that movie I told you about?

* * *

That night, Orihara Izaya did some idle research on Kishitani Shingen and his acquaintances on the off chance that he might be able to put a face to his new chatroom buddy. When he came up with no possible leads, he simply shrugged and turned his attention his usual work.

Meanwhile, Kishitani Shinra tried to calm his beloved Celty. She was convinced that his father was keeping some poor boy against his will. When he asked her how she came to that conclusion, she showed him the log of the chatroom she usually visits. He tried to assure her that it was probably a coincidence and his father wouldn't do something like that... probably. To reassure her, and himself, he called his father to make sure.

Roppi spent his night dreaming of headless shadows and vending-machine-tossing monsters.

* * *

**[Author's note] I usually don't like writing or reading chat logs, but in the DRRR-verse, the main source of information exchange is done online. And Narita-sensei seems to get away with it. I actually had fun with it as well. Huh, go figure.**

**Just a note on Kanra referring to Celty as a boy. In the book and anime, people who don't know her personally think she is a male. Even Shizuo thought she was a guy until Shinra told him and Tom in Volume 4.**

**If you feel Roppi's tolerance with other humans is out of character, bear with me, that is all coming soon. That being said, the tone of the story is about to take a rather noticeable shift from the current carefree atmosphere.**

**Stem Cells vs. DNA. My sister actually beta'd this chapter for me. She told me that using DNA to reproduce a person is a bit of a stretch for today's technology. But she told me that a Japanese scientist team found that using human stem cells, you can actually "grow" organs (they've managed to grow a liver and an eyeball). It took them a year and several trials. Which works out for this story because Roppi's entire body took a long time to create (Shingen got Izaya's stem cell samples while him and Shinra were still in high school). So, thanks to my sister for the info! Everyone wish her luck for her final med-school exam! She writes it on the 9th, and if she passes, I'll crank out two chapters in celebration xD.**

**Review and let a silly little author know what you think :)**


	3. It's For Your Own Good

**Warning: Violent themes ahead.**

**Disclaimer: No matter how much I wish I did, I do not own Durarara!**

* * *

Shingen came to wake him one morning. He placed a hand on Roppi's shoulder and shook him lightly until he began to rouse from his sleep.

"Roppi-kun, it's time for you to wake up now"

Roppi groaned and cracked open his watery eyes. He blinked slowly as his vision adjusted to the light.

"Good, you're awake. Put on some comfortable clothing, that means no jacket. We are going to do something different today" he said before he curtly turned and left the room.

Roppi blinked in confusion. That was...strange, Shingen wasn't loud or obnoxious today, he sounded strict and professional. It was disconcerting, but it was nice in a way. Roppi took a quick bath and changed into loose clothing as the doctor asked and headed into the adjourning laboratory room.

He froze when he caught sight of someone else in the room standing next to Shingen. He's never seen another human in person before. He was unsure of what to do. Shingen had told him hide himself if someone else entered the lab. This person, however, looks like they were invited inside. She was a female, he had shinny blond hair that cupped her babyish face. She dressed similarly to Shingen, she donned the same white lab coat and white gloves. The only difference was her gas mask was pushed up and rested on her head, revealing her face. Her golden irises surveyed Roppi with great interest.

"Oh my! He is looking like the regular human being, with all due respect!" she gushed in a strange speech pattern.

Roppi flinched. So this woman also knows that he was an artificial human? He was sure that fact was supposed to be a secret from the other scientists. Why is Shingen suddenly revealing Roppi to his colleagues now?

Shingen nodded "He is by far my greatest achievement. My hard work and effort has paid off immensely as you can see" he gestured towards the woman at his side, "Roppi-kun, this is my wife and colleague, Emilia. She will be helping me from here on out. We will be making adjustments to your form as we see fit."

Roppi didn't like the way he phrased that. "What kind of adjustments?"

Emilia spoke up this time "Shingen and I have the agreement that even though your body resembles a human body perfectly, the human body itself has its flaws, with respect. There are too many ways a human can die. How sad, how sad. The matter of business now is to protect Shingen's hard work. Now, begin eliminating the various ways your body can die, with respect" her smile and weird speech pattern would have been amusing if not for the grim implications of her words.

"And how are you going to accomplish that?" Roppi's voice wavered, giving away the growing apprehension that he was trying to hide.

"By running you through different scenarios and see how your body is damaged. These scenarios may include, but not limited to, drowning, poisoning, choking, bleeding, suffocation, crushing, and heavy impact. After we analyze the damage you body takes, we will adjust whatever we see fit, to prevent you from dying from each scenario a second time" Shingen replied.

Roppi's eyes widened _'A second time?!'_

The eye windows on Shingen's gas mask flashed in the fluorescent lighting. Roppi has never been able to see what his face looked like, but right now, he desperately wanted to see what kind of expression he was making, to see if the doctor was just making a sick joke. Roppi hoped the doctor would snap back to his annoying self and say something like "_Haha! Just kidding! You really need to get a sense of humour!_"

Shingen pulled out a syringe. "Let's get started, shall we?"

And with those five words, Roppi's hopes were crushed.

* * *

CHATROOM

Setton: That's strange...

Tanaka Taro: What is, Setton-san?

Setton: Hachimen-san hasn't come on in a while...

Tanaka Taro: Yeah, I noticed too. It's been a little over a week

Kanra: Well~ Sometimes noobies don't stick around for too long you know. Maybe he got bored of us v(￣ｰ￣)v

Setton: Is that so...

Tanaka Taro: You think?...I don't know, he seemed really into our conversations. Especially with Kanra-chan's Ikebukuro gossip.

Setton: That's true. I think Kanra-san turned him into a fan of Heiwajima Shizuo

Kanra: What? I did no such thing! I only talk about the Black Rider and the Slasher, not that dumb brute!

Tanaka Taro: Haha, it's because you won't talk about him that he's curious, Setton-san and myself have to fill him in. Though he is a big fan of Black Rider and Slasher too.

Setton: O-oh really? He's a fan of them too? That's unexpected.

Tanaka Taro: Either way, he wouldn't leave because he's bored. He likes talking about these things with us.

Kanra: Hmmm, you might be right Tanaka Taro-kun. Maybe he's just tied up with work somewhere?

* * *

Roppi woke up tied down to an examination table, exhausted and in pain. He's gotten used to waking up like this for the past few weeks ever since they started the testing stage.

"Project Darwin" they started calling it. All of these brutal tests and experiments. It's the project that will make Roppi stronger to insure the longevity of their scientific research.

'_Because, heaven forbid I die and destroy their precious research'_ Roppi thought bitterly.

What he remembered from yesterday was that Emilia and Shingen had locked him in a room where they set up a machine that shot heavy cannon balls. He was forced to run and dodge every time it locked on to his position and fired. Each experiment Shingen and his wife set up where designed with two things in mind; one was to determine and build on his current physical skills, and the other to record the way his body is damaged during each test. The purpose of this particular experiment was to develop quick reaction instincts and stamina, and they would take note on how his bones would break if he were hit.

_When_ he is hit, he corrected himself; they didn't look like they would stop the simulation until he received _some_ kind of damage.

He remembered cursing both of the doctors watching above from behind the reinforced glass. The two of them were insane for thinking this would help him live longer.

The first couple of minutes he managed to avoid being hit, then the machine began to fire cannonballs at a quicker rate. Roppi was already getting tired from dodging and running without a break. The sudden change in pace caught him off guard. One cannonball clipped his elbow, causing him to stumble. Distracted by the sudden pain, he was unable dodge the next projectile. He was struck in the abdomen and shoulder in quick succession. He couldn't remember what happened after that. He must have been struck in the head, since it was throbbing in pain as well. His torso, left arm and head was heavily bandaged. He wondered how long he was unconscious. Emilia appeared at his side when he started to pull at his bonds weakly.

"I respectfully request for you to rest" she said, "We are needing you to make the fullest recovery before continuing is possible."

Roppi frowned at her. She was simply concerned about the success of Project Darwin. His well-being happened to coincide with its success. He didn't delude himself in thinking that her kindness was genuine. She was also very annoying. He informed her on many occasions that he could speak English fluently, yet she continued to speak to him in butchered Japanese.

As if sensing his stare, she turned to look at Roppi and smiled. She brushed at his hair and murmured "The face you have is of the handsomest kind, I humbly request you remove the frown with respect. Mama dislikes"

Roppi batted her hand away with his free hand, "You're not my mother" he mumbled. She was almost exactly like Shingen. They were so alike; they both manage to infuriate him with little or no effort.

"Now, now Roppi-kun. Manners," Shingen scolded as he appeared seemingly out of nowhere and walked over to Roppi's side with a file in hand, "Now that you're awake. We can begin discussing the changes we've decided to make based on the results of your performance"

Roppi couldn't even look at him. It was hard to believe this cold efficient man was the same silly doctor whom Roppi had grown fond of (no matter how much he would have denied it in the past). He wondered if the whole time they spent together was just a charade. He dismissed that thought however. It was a baseless conclusion that he came up with in an angry daze. He was being irrational at the moment. Besides, a stubbornly loyal part of him refused to believe that Shingen didn't care for him.

"We've analyzed the data we've collected" Shingen started, he flipped open the file in his hand and began reading its contents

"Reaction time is average, physical stamina is above average, speed is above average, strength is poor, pain tolerance is below average, hand-eye co-ordination is excellent, spatial awareness below average, resistance to toxins average, and healing time average. Subject is capable of running vigorously for 30 minutes without a break. Subject is capable of swimming vigorously for 20 minutes without a break. Subject can withstand mild and medium bodily impact with minor injuries. Fighting skills are presumably non-existent."

"With this, we've concluded that your body is reasonably capable of defending itself in normal threatening situations, however, you'd still be severely harmed 75% of the time. In extreme cases, you would be killed instantly. As a result, we will continue to train your body to handle normal circumstances, and diminish the likelihood of you receiving damage. If possible, we'd also like to fortify your bones and muscles to reduce the possibility of damage further. For extreme cases, we've decided to take a different approach. Even if you train your body, you may be able to handle strenuous circumstances better, but the chances of you surviving such circumstances are still very low. That is why I have developed a new list of functions to input into your programming. These functions would be put into use as in an emergency"

Shingen continued to explain how the list of functions worked and how they are triggered. Roppi really didn't care how they were worked. The circumstances that would evoke these 'new sets of functions' wouldn't even occur in the lab that he lived in, apart from what Project Darwin has put him through.

Shingen told him that he wasn't allowed outside the lab, because it was too dangerous. He was safe in here. Then why did he need all of this? It didn't make sense, and Roppi's pain-dulled mind was too tired to comprehend everything.

"I've already created another synthetic brain like your own for these kinds of situations. I'll be using it to test if the program can be incorporated and function properly without affecting the other information and functions that are already integrated in your brain. Until we've decided that it is safe to use on you, you will continue to train as soon as you are healed. That being said, we will take a temporary break from our regular schedule, so get as much rest as you can. We will let you know when it's time to continue," he concluded as he closed the folder and turned to leave.

Roppi grabbed Shingen's sleeve with his uninjured hand, holding the doctor in place. Roppi hesitated, before swallowing his pride and whispering, "Please...no more, I don't need-I can't...i-it hurts."

He looked at Shingen with pleading eyes, he believed that the doctor cared enough to listen to him. He must realize that all of this was fool's errand. The lab was safe enough, and Roppi could simply pass himself off as a regular human if anyone ever discovered him, no one would know the difference.

Shingen remained silent for a long time. Then he shook his head. "Roppi-kun, it's either you suffer now, or you suffer later on. The only difference is, I won't let you die." That being said, he tugged his sleeve out of Roppi's grasp and walked out of the room. Emilia glanced at the shocked boy before she hurried after her husband.

Roppi bit his lip to stop it from trembling, his eyes started to blur. Why is he being like this? Didn't he see what it was doing to him? Does he even care anymore? He clutched at the bed sheets with a shaking fist. They weren't nearly as comforting as his jacket that Shingen gave to him. He'd curl up with that jacket whenever he felt alone, or when that stupid doctor left the lab for long periods at a time. That jacket that reminded him that Shingen had cared, and it wasn't here to reassure him when he needed it the most.

Before he knew it, Roppi shed tears for the very first time.

And it was over a stupid jacket.

Emilia caught up to Shingen and placed her hand on his shoulder. Shingen paused but he didn't turn around.

"Shingen?"

"He won't be cooped up in here forever, you know. He's going to leave someday, and when he does, he needs to be ready for whatever the world throws at him. He even has _that guy's_ face too, it's all the more dangerous for him. Regardless of his physical appearance or his IQ level, he's still a child."

"Shingen..."

"Bah! He should be thanking me for all this! I'm trying to teach him an important life lesson here! It's his own blasted fault if he doesn't get it!"

"Shingen."

"Sure it's cruel and he'll probably hate me, but it can't be helped! It's for his own good right? Hahaa! After all of this is over, he just might kick my-"

"Shingen!"

The older doctor stopped babbling when his wife wrapped her arms around him.

"He'll be fine"

* * *

CHATROOM

_-No one is in the chatroom at this time-_

_-Hachimen has joined the chat-_

Hachimen: No one's here huh...

Hachimen: ...

Hachimen: I really wanted to chat. Maybe I should just vent while the chat is empty?

_-Saika has joined the chat-_

Saika: Love

Hachimen: I don't know if I should be grateful or annoyed that you turned up.

Saika: More

Saika: Need more

Saika: Love Love Love Love Love Love Love

Saika: To love humans

Saika: I love humans

Hachimen: Love humans?

Saika: Must

Saika: Love all

Hachimen: What's there to love about humans? Selfish morons.

Saika: Love them

Hachimen: Only care about their own goals, and don't care who they trample on in the process

Saika: Strong

Hachimen: That too, all they care about is strength

Saika: More strength

Hachimen: And they'll do anything to get stronger

Hachimen: Wait...are you actually responding to me?

Saika: Want

Saika: I want

Hachimen: I'll just take that as a yes

Saika: Cut them

Saika: Want to cut

Hachimen: What, you want me to cut them? Ha. Like the Slasher?

Hachimen: Slasher is a monster, right?

Saika: Cut

Hachimen: Black Rider, the beast of Ikebukuro, I suppose I'm monster too

Saika: Cut Cut

Hachimen: Can monsters and humans really live together?

Saika: Cut Cut Cut

Hachimen: ...you're not listening are you?

Saika: Mother, Mother, Mother, Mother, Mother, Mother, Mother, Mother, Mother, Mother, Mother, Mother, Mother, Mother, Mother, Mother, Mother, Mother, Mother, Mother, Mother, Mother, Mother,

Hachimen: Why am I even trying to talk to you?

_-Hachimen has left the chat-_

Saika: Must cut the strongest

Saika: Must love the strongest

_-Saika has left the chat-_

_-No one is in the chatroom at this time-_

_-No one is in the chatroom at this time-_

_-No one is in the chatroom at this time-_

_-Kanra has joined the chat-_

Kanra: Oh my~ looks like I just missed something interesting.

Kanra: And really, Hachi-chan, you just keep getting more and more interesting

Kanra: You'd be reeeeal fun to play with ~

Kanra: Eh he~

_-Chat log deleted-_

_- Kanra has left the chat-_

_-No one is in the chatroom at this time-_

* * *

Roppi began to show more and more antisocial behaviour. He spent most of his time in his room and at times, he refused to leave when they called him for another training session. Shingen had to resort to threatening to use sedatives if he refused to comply. This behaviour was to be expected. Surprisingly, he hasn't physically lashed out on either of them yet. However, he has developed a habit of slapping and shoving Emilia's hands away when she tried comforting him or while she tended to his injuries after training. Emilia was saddened by his distancing, because she truly cared for the boy, yet he still refused to let her near him. Nevertheless, she was a strong-willed woman and she unrelentingly tried to get her 'cute little son' to open up to her. It was amusing to see a woman fuss over Roppi as if he were a child, when Roppi, in all rights, looked like a young adult.

Shingen hit enter on the small computer in front of him and watched as a sequence of numbers flew across the screen. He was working on the new program for Roppi. The computer was connected to several wires that were attached to what looked like a silicon replica of a human brain. He had two monitors hooked up, on one he was creating the new program to implement into the system. The other monitor had other programs running for the brain to recognize as makeshift body parts and organs. The brain was controlling the "breathing" and "heart-rate" through each program as a real brain would in a regular body. In order to test if the program would have any detrimental effects on Roppi's behaviour, he decided to give the brain the same information and a "personality". Earlier, he tested the brain on external stimulus. Shingen added a camera to give the brain "eyes" and a microphone for "ears", he also added a sensor pad for the brain to respond to touch. He tested through all mediums and it reacted accordingly. Satisfied, Shingen decided it was time to test the program.

He heard someone approaching from behind. Sure enough, Roppi passed by him and sat at the adjacent side of the table. He didn't make any eye contact with Shingen, he simply stared at the glass case that held the brain.

"It's nice to see you outside your room, Roppi-kun"

Roppi didn't answer him, he continued to silently observe the glass case. His eyes briefly sparked with curiosity as a section of the brain lit up.

Shingen chuckled, "As you may have guessed, this here is the synthetic brain that I'm using to test the new program. As you can see, he is functioning well"

Roppi scowled and pulled up the hood of his jacket so Shingen couldn't see his face. Shingen sighed at his behaviour. He acted like such a child sometimes. But, he supposed as he typed in more commands into the computer, at least he came and sat with him. And the fact he still wore that jacket he bought for him, and used it as a source of comfort warmed his heart a little bit. It made him feel that the boy didn't completely hate him for all the trouble he put him through.

Shingen continued to muse aloud and talk to Roppi like how he use to. The only difference was that instead of getting irritated and snapping at the doctor like before, the younger man remained silent, and ignored him in favour of the synthetic brain. The doctor studied Roppi for a moment, and figured out what the boy was thinking.

"I don't have another body to put him inside, if that's what you're wondering"

"Good"

Shingen was taken aback by Roppi's sudden reply. If that wasn't surprising enough, he abruptly stood up, left Shingen without a word, and headed to his room. Shingen blinked at his unexpected behaviour but sighed for the umpteenth time and turned back towards his work.

"Dealing with Roppi is like dealing with a child sometimes. I suppose you're lucky you don't have to deal with him, you lucky little guy" Shingen sighed to the silicon brain sitting innocently in its case. A few sections on the brain lit up, blinking on and off, as if it were listening to the doctor's words. The doctor chuckled "I wonder if he'll realize the main reason behind Project Darwin, or if he'll forgive me even if he did..."

The brain lit up again. One would imagine that it was trying to sympathize with the doctor's troubles.

"Haha, well as long as he benefits from all of this, I'm satisfied. The sooner we finish this, the sooner Roppi-kun can be happy. So what do you say? Shall we work together to make Roppi-kun happy?"

The brain lit up merrily and the doctor continued to work on the program.

* * *

CHATROOM

_[Private Chat Mode]_

Hachimen: That's why I haven't come to the chat for so long, sorry if I've worried you.

Hachimen: I'd prefer if you didn't tell anyone about this though, I don't need the attention...

Kanra: Don't worry Hachi-chan, I know when to keep my mouth shut.

Kanra: I'm honoured that you decided to talk to me about this, it's hard to deal with household abuse alone.

Hachimen: Well, I talk to you more often, so I figured you'd be the best person to tell

Roppi didn't tell Kanra exactly what was going on, without revealing to much of what he was. Regardless of how much he hated Shingen right now, he knew that revealing his secret was too dangerous for both of them (even to an anonymous chat buddy). Even if it were for petty revenge, it would be crossing the line. Besides, it would sound too far-fetched at this point to reveal that he was a humanoid science project, and scientists were conducting experiments on him to make him practically invincible. Also, he conveniently had internet access so he could angst about it.

It sounded even more bizarre than it actually was.

Instead, he told Kanra that he had been dealing with his guardian and his 'new girlfriend' and their combined abusive nature. Surprisingly, Kanra's usual playful and boisterous attitude was set aside as she listened to his story and talked to him seriously. She comforted him and gave him advice and encouragement as any sympathetic friend would. He found himself relaxing as he unload his troubles to his online buddy.

Hachimen: Kanra-san I have a question...

Kanra: As long as it's not about Shizuo again, I'll be happy to answer （‐＾ー＾‐）

Hachimen: Well, that too, but I have another question.

Kanra: Ask away~

Hachimen: Not all humans are selfish, cruel and stupid, right?

Kanra: Hmm... to tell you the truth, they are all selfish in a way, though not all of them are cruel. And everyone does something stupid from time to time, it's what makes them interesting, right? That's why I love them ^_^

Hachimen: Is that so... I think that's why I hate them

* * *

**[Author's note] And here it is. The starting point of Roppi's hate for humans. It'll soon grow into the human loathing persona that the lovely fanbase has created.**

**Kishitani Emilia is a canon character that appears in Volume 4 (just after the anime left off). I'm not too fond of writing her wacky speech patterns, especially when she has to explain difficult concepts. I don't want to leave my readers confused after reading her lines, so I try to make them somewhat coherent when she's explaining stuff. Celty also mentions that Emilia might be butchering her speech to make her character stand out, so I guess I can get away with letting her make sense once in a while. But I like her character, she's weird, like me.**

**On another note, thank you so much for the lovely reviews! Honestly, I'm starting to understand why other authors say they are addictive. Thank you for reviewing and thanks to those of you who are following this story!**

**P.S my sister is writing her finals today, if she passes, an automatic two chapter update next week! So pray, wish, or knock on wood for her!**


	4. Keep What's Important Close To You

**Disclaimer: I'm running out of creative ways to say that I don't own Durarara!**

* * *

Shingen left his superior's office with his mind racing. He and Emilia had just been assigned to transfer to Ikebukuro. Nebula Corporation had bought Yagiri Pharmaceuticals last April as a cover for investigating reports claiming that they are in possession of a dismembered head. A dormant, yet fully functional head regardless of its detachment from its body. After searching the facilities for any signs of it, they ended up with nothing. Now, it turns out that Nebula has given up the search for the 'head', and now focusing on the 'body'.

Celty Sturluson, the headless Dullahan, or more commonly known as the Black Rider, is currently living in Ikebukuro with Shingen's son. And Shingen was assigned to gather more information about her, along with another scientific enigma, the famous Japanese pop idol, Hijiribe Ruri. Shingen had already examined Celty once before, so he would leave her to Emilia; he was more interested on Ruri's case. According to reports, the girl had incredible strength, and an impossibly quick healing rate. If he managed to get some samples from her, he might be able to find the secret to her ability. As long as her ability is not genetic or created at a molecular level, he may be able to implement it into Roppi.

That was another problem. Roppi. He couldn't leave him in America, it would be too risky. There is no way Roppi would last long without Shingen and Emilia's presence. He was in no means helpless, however, with the limited food supplies in the laboratory kitchen and nothing to do, he would hardly last a week. It would also look suspicious if either of them stocked up on food when they were planning on leaving to Japan for a long period of time. Without food and a lack of human contact, Roppi would most likely wander outside of the lab.

Unless Shingen used '_that'_, it would certainly solve the problem of Roppi going hungry or wandering out of the lab. However, he never tried to use it for an extended period of time. Also, it didn't stop anyone else from entering the lab. Even though it was a secure personal lab, he couldn't guarantee that his lab will be left untouched during his absence. The higher up's may have their own keycard to access his lab.

He didn't want to risk the chance. He had to bring Roppi along somehow.

* * *

Roppi wandered out of his room in the middle of the night, and sat in front of the spare synthetic brain. It's been three months since Shingen completed the program and implemented it into Roppi's own brain, yet he didn't dispose the brain he used to create it. Roppi had seen Shingen talk to it during the testing stage. He wanted to try it out at least once. So he snuck out of his room one night and hesitantly spoke to it. It lit up and reacted when it heard his voice. It was a surreal experience. Surprisingly, he enjoyed talking to it and began visiting the brain occasionally during the night.

The lab was dark and the only lights came from the room that led to the kitchen and the lights emitting from Roppi's glass-encased friend and the monitors he was connected to. Several areas on the brain itself was blinking on and off, and glowing lightly. Roppi let a rare smile grace his face at the sight.

'_He's dreaming huh?'_

He sat quietly as it blinked and glowed at random intervals. Its radiance was serene and peaceful, he was content with just sitting and watching it illuminate its glass case. Soon, the monitor showed a shift in his 'breathing'. Roppi straightened up at the unexpected change. The camera fixed on the box blinked and turned on.

Roppi leaned closer and whispered "It's me, I'm sorry if I woke you up"

The frontal lobe sluggishly blinked on and off as if it were blinking sleepily at Roppi.

"I didn't mean to wake you up. I couldn't sleep so I came here. I actually have some good news, I finished another round of hard training today. They ran all the simulations on full throttle"

The brain flashed, the heart rate sped up.

"Don't worry, I'm still alive. And in one piece as you can see. I'm getting a lot better at dealing with the 'maximum danger simulations'. But in the end, I messed up. Even one mistake on maximum would be fatal. Your emergency program had to kick in to save me. It didn't help with the pain though."

The brain flashed again.

"It's okay, really. It's nothing I can't handle." Roppi shrugged.

"I have to stop worrying you," he continued "But I really can't help it. It's too amusing to see you get so worked up for my sake. It's cute"

The monitor showed a rise in 'body temperature'.

Roppi smirked, "I'm fine though, just talking to you about it, makes it easier to deal with. Maybe it's because we're both the same. We both are made the same way. We aren't human, yet we think and feel. There is nothing different about us, except that I have a body. But really, that doesn't matter."

He absentmindedly traced patterns on the sensor pad as he spoke, completely unaware of the effect it had on the helpless brain. The mock heart rate monitor was jumping at an irregular pace and the breathing showed a large intake but no release. Since all of its functions were all simulated, the lack of "air" probably wouldn't affect him. It just showed how uncomfortable he was. Shingen programmed him with the command to unconsciously breathe at regular intervals, unless he makes a conscious effort to disrupt the rhythm; whether he needs to or not, he would eventually "take a breath".

It was just...difficult at the moment when Roppi was making those distracting motions on his sensor while softly speaking in an uncharacteristically gentle tone.

Roppi sighed and removed his hand to prop up is chin. The brain slowly released his breath.

"Shingen mentioned that we're going to go to Ikebukuro. I've been wanting to go there for a while now. Ever since I've talked to the people in the chatroom who live there. Maybe while we're there that damn doctor will let me outside for once. It's a different country, we'll never know, maybe he'll be less paranoid. Maybe while we're there we'll get a body for you." Roppi looked up at the brain sitting in its case, "I didn't want you to get a body at first because I thought you'd go through the same thing I went through"

The brain glowed, as if it was trying to tell Roppi that he appreciated his concern.

"But this way those two have your life in they're hands. You can't escape or speak out against them. It's more cruel than anything they've done to me. You are truly trapped aren't you?"

_Being with you doesn't make me feel trapped at all Roppi-san._

He desperately wanted to tell Roppi these words. Not for the first time, he really wished Shingen made some way for him to verbally communicate with others. But for now, all he could do was glow to reassure Roppi from his worries. Whether he understood the message or not, it was unclear, but Roppi's eyes softened as he looked at his friend with an unreadable expression.

"When you do get a body, would you tell me what your name is?"

The brain's lights blinked in confusion.

"I don't know what to call you. I never gave you a name." Roppi's eyes widened a fraction and covered his face with his hand. He let out a self-mocking chuckle, "I made the same mistake Shingen made with me, he didn't think to name me until few weeks after I first woke up. His idiocy is spreading." He dropped his hand "But I want to give you the choice to make your own name. You deserve that much at least."

The brain flickered dejectedly, He seemed upset. Roppi frowned at him. "Hey, be a little more grateful. At least I'm not forcing a name onto you without hearing your opinion. I even got a say in my name."

The brain didn't respond. Roppi sighed. "Fine, I'll make a suggestion, but that's it. It's up to you to use it however you like"

This time, the brain glowed happily in response. Roppi watched him glow and came up with an inspired idea. "Your name should have "moon" in it. I've never seen it for myself, but I imagine that the moon glows the same way you do at night...That sounded less corny in my head" Roppi finished off lamely, his cheeks aflame.

The brain positively beamed at his answer.

* * *

**Two days later, Ikebukuro**

Celty watched the three men flee from her with a hint of satisfaction.

After dealing with a mob of fearless traffic police, it was refreshing to see some normal reactions to her shadow manipulation. She retrieved her PDA from the ground and was relieved to find it wasn't broken. If that thug managed to break the present Shinra gave her, he wouldn't have been let off so easy.

Behind her, a boisterous laugh interrupted her thoughts.

"Do you see that you brats? This is the power of adults!" laughed the man clad in a white lab coat and gas mask.

Celty sighed in annoyance. She hated dealing with this guy. If it wasn't for Shinra, she wouldn't have spared the man another glance.

She approached him and typed on her PDA.

[_Alright, you've had your fun. It's time to go, Shinra is waiting_]

Shingen looked up and nodded. "Ah yes. Let me get my luggage."

Shingen was usually a light packer, he'd normally have one small carry-on bag. This is why Celty was puzzled at the sight of the additional large white suitcase he dragged along with him.

Celty's helmet cocked to the side. She was too curious for her own good.

[_What's in there?_] she asked gesturing to the large suitcase.

Shingen waved uncaringly. "Oh, nothing special. Just some equipment I couldn't leave behind. Don't worry about it, I won't leave it lying around in the apartment. I'll drop it off at the labs in the morning."

Celty shrugged as long as it won't be a hindrance, she wouldn't mind it. As Shingen set the suitcase next to her bike, the shadows at her feet pooled around it and lifted off the ground. The black mass shifted and morphed into a sidecar with the suitcase nestled inside. A few more tendrils shot out the side and attached itself to Celty's motorcycle. It was a fascinating sight for any regular bystander, but Shingen was fairly use to such sights, and only let out an appreciative hum. Celty mounted her bike and Shingen followed suit. Celty stole one more glace at the suitcase. She didn't know why it unsettled her, but it did.

She drove off into the night. Her motorbike's engine let out a sound reminiscent of that of a horse's neigh.

* * *

It was only until Shingen was in the privacy of his temporary lab in the Ikebukuro branch of the Nebula Corporation, and after he swept the lab making sure that there were no bugs, that he opened up his suitcase, revealing an unconscious Roppi. With much difficultly, he hosted the boy out of the suitcase.

It was a bizarre sight. One would think that the scientist was pulling out a dead body. A reasonable assumption, how could anyone survive in a cramped, airtight suitcase for that long? Nevertheless, Shingen connected him with a defibrillator and restarted his heart. Slowly, he began to regain consciousness.

Roppi slowly blinked and opened his eyes. He groaned as he sat up and clutched his head, "Nng, where?"

Shingen made a grand, exaggerated gesture. "Welcome to Japan! More specifically, welcome to Nebula's Japanese branch situated in Ikebukuro!"

Roppi peered around the lab, and found that similarly to Shingen's other lab, it also had a lack of windows. But it wasn't nearly as big, nor as equipped with machinery. Roppi automatically categorized the place as boring.

"When do I get to go outside?"

"Ah ha...Roppi-kun, your face is well known around these parts. It would be unwise for you to leave just yet."

Roppi glared at the doctor "I thought that after Project Darwin I'd get the 'all-clear' to go outside. Wasn't it supposed to prepare me for that? I wouldn't have needed to go through that damned project if all I am going to do is stay inside for the rest of my life."

Shingen raised his hand to silence him before he got any more dramatic "I didn't say you would stay inside for the entire time we will spend here. I simply meant that I need to assess the situation before I can let you outside. There is a lot hullabaloo going on right now, and I think it would be best if we lay low until the heat dies down. Just by arriving at the city, I'm sure I've caught the attention of a few unsavoury characters. The last thing I want is for them to find out about you, or worse. I'll need look up on Orihara Izaya's situation as well. If he's stirring up trouble, then there would definitely be people after him, or in your case people who look like him." Shingen gave him a meaningful look, "I'm sure you understand"

Roppi didn't answer, he heard Shingen make similar excuses before. It usually meant that he wasn't going to go through with something, and this was his way of cushioning the blow. As it was, he simply shrugged and turned away. He had a feeling this might happen, that didn't make it any less disappointing.

Shingen took his shrug as an affirmative, and started to ramble as usual.

"On a different note, sorry about the whole stuffing you in a suitcase thing, really. I couldn't just buy you a plane ticket. Besides the fact that you have no identification or passport, if I had to walk through the airport with you, you would have gotten recognized for sure! And thank god Nebula's Private jet has rubbish security. How would I have explained a body in my suitcase? That would have been a disaster. It's really thanks to that new program of yours. How convenient is it that you can- "

"Where is he?"

"Pardon?"

Roppi turned and looked at Shingen in the eye. "The brain you used to create that program. Where is he?"

Shingen was taken aback. "Ah, that. The brain is still in America with Emilia. She's developing a few new programs for him. Oh don't look at me like that, she's only modifying him. He will have more 'freedom' so to speak, with his added features. Primarily the new speaking function Emilia proposed he should have."

"I see, are they coming later?" Roppi forced himself to relax a little, he was uneasy of the idea of his friend alone with Emilia without supervision.

"She's still in the developing stage, she said she will contact me after they are complete, and she will coming to Ikebukuro afterwards. Whether she decides to bring him or leave him is her decision."

Roppi felt inexplicably cold upon hearing that piece of information.

"Well then Roppi-kun, I need to leave and get started on gathering some intel" he pulled out two boxes of take-out food and an assortment of snacks from his bag and set it on the table, along with a laptop. "Here is some food in case you get hungry, and my spare laptop to keep you occupied. Remember, don't leave the lab. I'll see you in two days."

The raven's eyes flew up in shock. "Two days!?" he repeated in alarm.

But the energetic doctor had already left. Locking the lab from the outside with an audible click.

Shingen had lived in the lab with him back in America. At times he would leave him in the lab alone, sometimes for almost a day. Being alone didn't scare him. But being alone in an unfamiliar place frightened him more than he was willing to admit.

But even more so, he mourned the fact that he was here, miles away from his friend. Who may be suffering at the hands of Emilia, with no one to stop her.

* * *

The days following Shingen and Roppi's arrival were uneventful.

Shingen spent most of his time out of the laboratory looking for clues as to where he could find his target. He also paid Orihara Izaya a visit, and found him causing problems as usual. Orchestrating a war, of all things. The doctor only dropped by to see Roppi for an hour at a time before he left again. He didn't spend the night at the lab, he slept at his son's house. He couldn't stay longer in the lab, while he was here on an assignment. It would cause too much unwanted attention. Having a temporary lab was nothing like having your own personal laboratory, after all.

Roppi tried to distract himself by surfing on the net, and chatting. He was still getting use to the new non-spammer Saika, and there was a new member in the chat named Bakyura. Chatting was a nice escape, but in the long run, it didn't help at all.

The rest of the week went on without incident. The turmoil between the Dollars, Yellow Scarves and the Slashers had died down. The city seemed to reset to its usually peaceful self.

That was, until one day when Shingen entered his lab, to find it empty.

* * *

**[Author's Note] We've officially reached the point where the anime left off! They've finally arrived in Ikebukuro, and Roppi runs away shortly after. Enter Drama Llama, stage left.  
**

**I never intended for the synthetic brain to have a major role in the story, but inspiration hit, and now he's got a slightly bigger role than a prop. As a result, I completely changed the ending of the story. Don't freak out. I'm nowhere near finished yet :P**


	5. Something Lost And Something Found

**Disclaimer: From this chapter on, I'm going to forgo the disclaimer stating that I don't own Durarara!**

* * *

It's gotten so quiet lately.

How boring.

The infamous information broker of Shinjuku typed away at his laptop half-heartedly. His delightful humans seemed to be on vacation. Apart from a few small scuffles and baseless rumours floating around, Ikebukuro has gotten peaceful. Peaceful, serene, and positively _boring_.

Orihara Izaya huffed as he scanned through another chatroom, "Honestly, do I have to do all the work? You'd think my little humans would be capable of causing a little disorder by themselves-"

"Please refrain from voicing all your thoughts out loud. I may be here to work for you, but that doesn't mean I want to hear every disturbing thought that crosses your mind"

Izaya laughed at his secretary "Ah, but Namie-chan, isn't that what I pay you for?"

Namie continued to sort the piles of paper on her desk. "If that's the case, then you don't pay me nearly enough"

Izaya smirked and leaned further back into his chair. He disregarded her earlier suggestion and continued to muse to himself to irritate his secretary further, "What shall I do? What shall I do? Maybe I should start another gang fight? Or should there be another Dollars fiasco?" He started to spin his chair around as he spewed out more ideas of how to bring the fun back into Ikebukuro.

"Maybe I can set something up involving the Awakusu-kai? Oh, that would be fun! Maybe I can bother Shizu-chan while I'm at it~! Now there's an idea – hm?"

Izaya paused his spinning when his phone suddenly began to vibrate on his desk. He reached for it and checked to see who was calling. His eyebrows rose at the caller ID. He curiously answered the phone.

"And to what pleasure do I owe the Nebula Corporation?"

The caller on the other end chuckled sheepishly "Ah-ha...Izaya-kun, It's been a long time! How've you been?"

"Kishitani-san?" Shinra's father was calling him? Well this is a surprise. "I've been well, and yourself?"

Kishitani Shingen chuckled nervously again. Izaya could imagine the quirky doctor anxiously running his hands through his hair. Izaya sat a little straighter in his leather chair. If something set the nutty scientist on edge, it was bound to be juicy.

"You seem to be a little nervous there Kishitani-san...what seems to be the problem?" Izaya asked in a tone that was entirely too cheerful.

"Well I am in a bit of a dilemma you see Izaya-kun, and you are the only one that can help me at the moment"

"Oh?" Izaya was intrigued at this point. He wished that the doctor would hurry up and spit it out.

"There is a certain experiment that I have been working on in America for the past few years, in private of course, I haven't told a soul apart from my wife. So far, the project has gone smoothly, I have made a break through three months ago and I brought it over to Japan with me. But this morning..."

"Your valuable work has gone missing, and you want me to find it" Izaya finished. The resigned sigh at the other side of the line was more than enough to confirm his statement. Izaya pulled up some documents on his laptop listing the employees currently working at the Nebula Corporation. "Do you have any suspicions as to who might steal your experiment?"

"Actually...I think he ran away"

Izaya paused his search. "He?"

"Yes, he stated on several occasions that he hated '_my stupid lab, my stupid voice and my stupid mask_' or something like that. The boy was probably getting antsy about being moved to the new lab." The doctor huffed in displeasure and paused for a moment "There are also no signs of a forced entry and the opening to the air duct was askew. It's safe to say that he escaped on his own. The nerve of that brat, I raised him as my own too."

"This wouldn't happen to be human experimentation, would it? How interesting Kishitani-san. You haven't mentioned this particular endeavour before... do I get to hear the details?"

Shingen seemed to consider it for a moment then answered, "I don't see why not. However, I wouldn't quite call it human experimentation, if the subject isn't exactly human. Well... yes, I wouldn't call my subject quite human yet. My experiment is fundamentally trying to re-create a human from scratch"

"Ho? Playing God are we?" Izaya smirked. This was just the type of interesting development he was craving as of late.

Shingen chuckled merrily "Nonsense my boy! It's all in the name of science! I haven't been spending the past few years developing babies over here I'll have you know, that's what women are for! What I have developed is a perfectly aged, 24-year-old human male. Using human stem cells, I managed to cultivate the necessary human parts for the body, the organs, muscles and tissues and such."

"My, have you single-handedly discovered how to clone a human?"

Shingen let out an uncomfortable sound. "Not exactly. The complexities of the human brain have failed to be recreated through cell fermentation. So, I had to develop a synthetic one instead."

"I see. And how exactly does this synthetic brain work?"

"Ohh no, no, noooo you don't. That won't work on me. If you think I'm about to spill my greatest super secret amazing invention, you've got another thing coming! There's no way I'm telling you anything about it!"

Izaya feigned a sigh "Aw, boring. Well then, maybe I'll just leave you to search for your little experiment yourself" It was a bluff of course. He intended to find this 'Experiment-kun' as soon as possible. But he wanted wheedle out as much information from the doctor while he is still desperate.

"Fine! I know other people who can help!"

Apparently, he wasn't _that_ desperate. Or he is distressed, and not thinking things through.

"Are you sure about that Kishitani-san? You want to keep this as quiet as possible don't you? Going to someone else would only leave me as an open end~"

"...you really are a snake"

Bingo.

Izaya's victory was short lived when Shingen spoke up again "Perhaps I need to remind you that I am aware of the whereabouts of a certain dismembered head. My superiors would be very rewarding if I were to divulge that information. Also, Celty-kun would be overjoyed as well. Though, I can't guarantee you'd survive her wrath after she finds out."

His smirk fell. "Right. I will stop asking unnecessary questions."

Shingen chuckled "Glad you see it my way. All you need to know is that it works. And the boy himself is quite smart and he learns fast. I was so proud! It's a shame that he turned out to be a cheeky brat and he refuses to call me Papa"

Izaya let out a little laugh. "He sounds like a sensible guy"

Shingen let out an irritated sigh and continued, "Anyway, I made a breakthrough a few months ago, when he finally woke up during one of my attempts to animate him. I began teaching him and testing him, and everything seemed perfectly normal. His attitude could have used a little adjustment, but that was something I decided to work on later. I suppose in hindsight, that wasn`t such a good idea"

Izaya agreed. Shingen was the type of person to treat his subjects as experiments, instead of treating them with tact or compassion. He wasn't sure about this artificial human, but he knew humans need a nurturing environment while they grow up, or else they may become _deliciously_ unstable, like how this 'Experiment-kun' seemed to have turned out. How interesting. It seems as if Shingen had some success in recreating a human, both physically and psychologically.

"Ah yes, hindsight is 20/20 isn't it? But don't worry too much, I'll find your little Experiment-kun and have him delivered to you. Though I must say I feel honoured that you came to me, rather than your own colleagues to share this information of your top secret project" Izaya said.

"Oh come now Izaya-kun, technically you've known about this experiment since the development stage. You _do_ play a big role in this whole thing after all"

Izaya frowned at that. This is the first he's heard of this secret project that Shingen was working on, let alone know how this experiment was connected to him "I'm afraid I have no idea of what you are talking about Kishitani-san"

"Don't tell me you forgot! You don't remember back when you were still in high school, I asked you for some cell and blood samples for my 'human assembly' project? I'm disappointed Izaya-kun, for you to forget something this big, it's unforgivable!"

Izaya grit his teeth. "I agree. I would not forget something like that, and I assure you Kishitani-san, you did not approach me with such a proposition."

Silence reined on the other end of the line.

"Hmm, then did I take your samples without your permission? I've seemed to have forgotten..."

Izaya's red eyes flashed dangerously. "You seemed to have _forgotten_? To reiterate what you said earlier, Kishtani-san, something that big isn't something you just _forget_" he ground out, all traces of his earlier cheerfulness was gone from his voice.

Shingen chuckled nervously again "Aha-ha...Izaya-kun no need to make a fuss, what's done is done. Right? Besides, the longer he is out there, the more damage he can do to your reputation, given that you both are identical-"

"He LOOKS like me too?"

"Well that seems to be all the time I have! Be sure to call me if Roppi-kun turns up! Bye bye then!" and the doctor abruptly hung up.

Izaya stared angrily at his phone at it for a long moment.

He let out a small chuckle.

Then he began to laugh.

And laugh and laugh.

Namie fixed an annoyed glare at her hysteric boss. She only heard one side of the phone conversation, but she had a rough idea of what her boss found so hilarious. Apparently, Kishitani Shingen's 'human experiment' got loose and it resembles Orihara Izaya. The thought was unsettling to say the least.

Izaya came down from his laughing fit and smiled. Fate had a funny way of working, Izaya decided.

"Looks like I found a way to cause disorder in Ikebukuro~" Izaya turned his chair so he was facing the window. His reflection smirked back at him, its red eyes twinkling with mirth.

"And for once 'I' will be in the spotlight"

* * *

Outside.

I'm finally outside. Roppi thought being out would make him feel better than being cooped up in a thrice damned lab. The absence of his friend made it all the more suffocating.

And in a sense, he did feel better. He didn't have to see that annoying bipolar doctor anymore, and listen to his constant muffled babbling through that ridiculous gas mask.

But this was unfamiliar territory, and there were more people out here. And it made him nervous. He'd only interacted with that doctor, his wife, and other humans online; but so far his view on the human race as a whole was that it was better to stay away from them.

His chatroom friends seemed nice enough, but as Shingen unintentionally taught him, people aren't always what they seem. Though he kept talking with his online friends, but never got emotionally invested with them. Talking with humans through a computer screen felt safer to him; it was a platonic and passive relationship, and he didn't have to experience their personal side. Their ugly side. Their _human_ side.

Roppi didn't consider himself human, neither did he want to consider himself human. Regardless of what the doctor insisted he was to become one day. He knew he was created from unnatural means and functioned differently, and that was enough reason for him to consider himself different from the humans he disliked so much. Based on the chatrooms he visited, the books he's read and the movies the doctor had lent him, humans were confusing, disgusting and sometimes outright stupid. Their actions were ruled by power, money, status, love and other fickle things which values were lost to him. They'd abandon their own morals if it meant they could have more of those frivolous desires.

He'd once told the doctor of his views on mankind. Shingen considered his argument and gave him books and movies that show the "good side" of humans. Clearly, the doctor thought he couldn't tell the difference between the non-fiction material he gave me initially and the fictitious nonsense he gave me afterwards.

His grand escape wasn't as spectacular as he imagined it would be. He'd been planning it since the first day Shingen left him in the new lab. Since he spent less and less time in the lab, due to his new assignment from the heads of Nebula Corp, Roppi took advantage of the man's absences to plan an escape route. The ventilation system seemed like the best choice, since he ran no risk of running into other people or security. After a few minutes of crawling through the tight air ducts, he reached a ventilation grill. He pried it open with one of the scalpels he swiped from the lab. It led him to a loading area for transportation vehicles. He quickly slipped inside a small delivery truck nearby before anyone noticed him and hid behind the palettes stacked with crates. There was a large ominous-looking crate in the back that hid him perfectly from sight when an employee came to shut the door. The truck had let Nebula's facility a half hour ago and was still driving quietly. The sound of the rubber tires moving smoothly over the asphalt, bumping occasionally was relaxing to hear. Especially after dealing with the adrenaline rush from escaping the lab so suddenly.

He clutched at the jacket pulled it closer to his body. He valued it regardless of his later resentment towards Shingen. Which is why he couldn't leave it behind.

The jacket was nothing like anything in the laboratory. It wasn't clinical, it wasn't disinfectant-scented, and it wasn't _white_. A black jacket with red fur on the linings, warm unlike the thin sheets that he had to sleep with. Why he still clung onto something that man gave him was beyond him. Perhaps it was because it made him realize that there were different things outside the laboratory that he'd been kept away from. He had a vague idea that there was a world outside of the lab, but after seeing the jacket for the first time, it really hit him that there really is more to see out there. Things that are different from the cold, boring lab that he has grown to hate.

The truck slowed to a stop as Roppi pulled himself out of his thoughts and stood up from his seated position.

'_Now for the tricky part._'

He could hear two muffled voices coming from the outside of the truck. It was probably the driver and his delivery companion. One of them opened the latch to the back and swung open the door.

"Just let the guys inside know that the delivery is here, I'll just get the-_GAH_!"

Roppi dealt the unsuspecting man with a swift kick to the face, and jumped over him as he collapsed on the floor clutching his face in pain. A quick glance told Roppi that the truck was parked in what looked like an indoor parking garage, it had several other vehicles parked there already, and it looked deserted apart from the two delivery men. As soon as Roppi's feet hit the ground, he ran as fast as he could and hid behind a pillar, far from the truck, to figure out what to do next. From his hiding spot, he could still hear the injured man screaming out curses. His partner ran back to his side.

"Oy! What happened? Are you okay?"

"Oww, god damn it! There was someone hiding in there! The little bastard kicked me in the face before I could get a good look at him! Did you see where he went?"

"Shit, no I didn't, sorry, my back was turned. He couldn't have gone far, I'll go look for him"

"No, you go alert Shiki and his men inside that we were attacked, they have cameras all over the place here, I'll check if that bastard took anything."

Roppi grimaced, it looked like he has created some unnecessary trouble for himself. It couldn't be helped either way, he had to get away without getting caught, and attacking the delivery man seemed to be the simplest route. He lifted his hood over his head to conceal his face as ducked behind a row of cars and headed towards the opening at the other end of the garage.

When he stepped out of the garage he was assaulted by the brightness of the sun. He pulled his hood further down to shade his eyes and squinted as he walked briskly to down the street a little ways away from the parking garage and turned into the nearest alley. With more confidence that he wouldn't run into people, he broke off into a sprint in the security of the shadowy alleyway. He followed the alley's twists and turns until it took him to an opening of a busy road.

There were several people walking, talking on cellphones, talking with each other, some handing out fliers. There were so many different people here; tense looking salarymen walking briskly, cheerful schoolgirls skipping happily, a group of thugs loitering around, housewives carrying groceries, and couples walking hand in hand.

Loud music could be heard coming different stores that lined the side of the street. There were cars, trucks, bikes zooming by, making the customary traffic sounds heard in every busy city. It was all so loud and full of life. A big contrast from the empty garage he escaped from a few blocks back.

Roppi froze and backed up into the alley again. He slid back into the shadows, and stared out apprehensively at the lively street.

All the hustle and bustle of the city was too intense for him. He was use to the quiet solitude from Shingen's personal labs in America and Japan.

It was a welcomed change, but an overwhelming one nonetheless.

His heart was thundering in his chest, and he ears were roaring. He was completely out of his comfort zone. He took a few breaths to calm himself. Roppi sighed and pressed his back to the cold alley wall as he closed his eyes to regain some composure. By now, Shingen would have discovered that he was missing, and now those other people from the garage were after him too. He couldn't afford to stay in a place like this, he'd be caught almost too easily. And he didn't want to give up his new found freedom just yet.

That was another thing. He was free now. He was in Ikebukuro. He remembered all the chats he'd have with his online friends who lived here. He can see all the places Tanaka Taro mentioned, he could experience the peaceful but exciting city life Setton's been raving about, he could witness those urban legends he's heard so much about from Kanra.

Ikebukuro was waiting for him. He couldn't let a little noise and a few people scare him.

With a new resolve, Roppi pushed himself off the wall, and calmly walked out into the street. He merged into the crowd easily. He continued to walk aimlessly with the crowd with his hood up and his hands in his pockets. He was still extremely uncomfortable walking with this many people. But the people didn't pay him any attention, and he started to ignore them as well.

He walked around aimlessly into an open square. There were street performers entertaining the crowd. He walked by and watched a few people drawing portraits and playing music. He tilted his head back and looked skyward, his hood slipped off, finally exposing his head to the sunlight. Roppi admired this new line of vision. The buildings were huge. There was a big screen playing a playing an interview of the famous idol Hijiribe Ruri, (whose name Roppi came across a few times while surfing through the internet, even before Shingen mentioned his new assignment).

It was nice, and he felt surprisingly peaceful. He enjoyed wandering around Ikebukuro and looking at what the city had to offer. Simply walking around with all these people wasn't that bad.

'I guess I can tolerate being around this many humans, as long as I keep my distance. They might not be as bad as I thought...maybe.'

* * *

**[Author's Note] Fun fact: I wrote the first part of this chapter before the previous three chapters. This chapter was originally the first chapter. Mid-way I noticed that Roppi's background should be explained further before we get into the good stuff (and to set up the story with more foundation), so I went back and started from the day he was created.**

**Another Random fun fact: In Japan, inventors (I'm not sure if they all do, but I've noticed quite a few) tend to name their Experiments and add a '-kun' suffix at the end (Like Super vacuum-kun, or Candy dispenser-kun). As if their invention was an actual person. I thought the whole concept was adorable so I tried to sneak that in there. And since Shingen is already calling Roppi "Roppi-kun", who else is infamous for coming up with catchy nicknames? Why, of course, I-ZA-YA-KUUUUUUUNNNN. Which reminds me...guess who makes an appearance next chapter?  
**

**As you may have figured out, there are two chapters up this week, meaning that yes, my sister passed her exams! She is coming home from the States tomorrow *victory fist*.**

**Thanks for reading and feel free to drop a review. I'm always curious as to what my reader's reactions are. Or if you spot a mistake (grammatical, continual, contextual, and/or factual) don't hesitate to let me know!**


	6. Message To Madness

**Warning: Swearing.**

* * *

Ryuugamine Mikado walked home leisurely. Now that the tension between Dollars, the Yellow Scarves and the Slashers has died down, his everyday routine has gone back to normal.

At the same time, it hadn't.

He hasn't seen or heard from Kida, nor was he answering his calls or texts. He was certain that the new member in the online chatroom "Bakyura" was actually Kida, but he hadn't responded to any of his private messages. It made him sad to think that he couldn't reach his childhood friend. He wanted to talk things over, and reassure Kida that there is no bad blood between them. Knowing his friend, he was probably was afraid to confront Anri and himself after letting them see him as the leader of the Yellow Scarves.

Without Kida, his everyday life just felt less lively. And honestly, as much as his loud boyish behaviour often embarrassed him, he couldn't imagine going back to Raira for a second year without Kida running up to him after the last class yelling:

"_Hey Mikado! Let's go pick up some hot chicks!"_

Mikado felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He absentmindedly pulled it out to check the new incoming message. Mikado wondered what he should do for now to make up for the lack of excitement that came hand-in-hand with the lack of Kida Masomi, when he read the message on his phone.

Mikado froze while he skimmed the contents of the text message.

Apparently, Mikado didn't have to do anything. This message alone was enough to wreak havoc in Ikebukuro.

* * *

"Dotachin! Dotachin!" cried out a feminine voice

"I thought I told you not to call me that" Kadota Kyohei sighed as he fixed a stern look at the anime-obsessed duo approaching the van.

"But it suits you so well!" Karisawa Erika grinned cheekily.

"We brought food! Take-out bento lunches for all!" Yumasaki Walker cheered as he lifted the plastic bags in his hands.

The brunette beside Kadota nodded in approval. "Good. But we're eating out here! I don't want any crumbs in my van like last time, hear me?"

"Kay!" the otakus chimed.

The four of them had a quiet afternoon for once, well as quiet as they could be. As usual, Erika and Walker would be loudly debating about with anime character that girl looked like, or which anime that guy over there would be in. Togusa almost got into a fight with some guy who dared to lean on his van when he wasn't looking. Kadota intervened before anything got out of hand.

Now everyone was simply enjoying their food and each other's company. The quiet was interrupted when Walker and Erika's phones chimed tunes of famous anime openings to notify an incoming message. Togusa's phone also started singing Hijiribe Ruri's new song. Then Kadota felt his own phone vibrate in his pocket. He took it out and looked at the new message.

If they all got a message, chances are it was probably from Dollars.

His eyebrows furrowed when he read the text.

Togusa exchanged glances with him, and Erika and Walker exclaimed in shock.

"Woah..this is bad!"

"Dota-chin! Iza-Iza is in trouble!"

"Kadota-san? Should we do something about this?" Togusa looked at him expectedly. Since Kadota knew Izaya the longest, he'd know whether or not they should get involved.

Kadota looked back at his cellphone screen and frowned. Izaya wouldn't do something like this. He's smarter than that. There has to be some mistake. Either way he probably needs help, even though he could handle himself, the Dollars was a huge group, and the majority of the people didn't know Izaya as well as he did, and they wouldn't ignore a message like this either, and the numbers alone would overwhelm the informant's skill.

"Togusa, Yumasaki, Karisawa, get in the van. We're going to find Izaya, and get to the bottom of this."

The other three nodded and quickly got into the van. Togusa started the engine and sped off.

* * *

A blond haired bartender leaned on a guardrail and inhaled from his cigarette. He blew out a trail of smoke towards the sky and watched as the wispy trails faded to reveal the blue sky. He felt a tap on his arm brought his attention back down to earth where he was standing beside the legendary Black Rider. Though, since he was on familiar terms with her, he identified her by her name.

"Sorry, did you say something Celty?"

Celty typed on her PDA and held it up so he could read her message

[_You seem very relaxed today Shizuo._]

Heiwajima Shizuo let a rare smile grace his lips and nodded. He did feel relaxed. After the three-way gang war, everything calmed down. There weren't any annoying gangs prowling the streets causing havoc or delinquents trying to pick fights with him. Hell, even Tom's clients were being co-operative lately. But more importantly, he hasn't seen or heard of the flea in over a week. It was good to be alive.

"Yeah, I guess when 'Bukuro is at peace, so am I"

Celty nodded in understanding.

[_It's nice, isn't it? Maybe you should spend your day off doing something more fun_]

Shizuo took another drag from his cigarette. "Hm...I can't think of anything to do though"

Celty thought for a minute and began typing again.

[_I hear the art museum has new additions to their exhibits_]

"Nah, I don't really get all that artsy stuff"

[_How about watching a movie?_]

"I'm not too interested in any of the new movies that came out 'neither"

Celty continued to bounce ideas around for a while until Shizuo finally agreed to go see the planetarium in Sunshine City. Not even a minute after they decided their new destination both of their cellphones chimed with a new message.

Celty read though the text before stiffening. Shizuo who was walking beside her stopped completely. Celty turned around to look at Shizuo face, trying to read his expression. It was eerily calm.

She hesitantly typed on her PDA.

[_Shizuo? Are you alright?_]

"Today was going so well"

Celty tilted her helmet questioningly.

"It was going so well, then he had to go and do something like this. That shitty little cockroach. Causing problems. 'The hell is he even doing in Ikebukuro?!" Shizuo growled.

Celty rapidly typed another message to calm Shizuo before he did anything rash.

[_Please calm down Shizuo! It might just be a prank! It doesn't sound like something Izaya would do!_]

Her words only served as fuel to Shizuo's growing rage.

"So that bastard thinks he can prank me? Fucking louse, if he's hiding in Ikebukuro I'll find him. Then I'm going to kill him, then kill him, AND THEN KILL HIM AGAIN!" he roared as he stormed off in a random direction.

[_Wait! That's not what I meant!_]

Celty sighed and erased her ignored message. There was no use. Nothing could stop Shizuo from going on a rampage when Izaya's name was mentioned. She looked at the new Dollars message again. There were many things that were off about it, but she didn't have time to think about it. She quickly hopped over the guardrail and mounted her bike.

Shizuo was on the loose, and he'd maul the city down in search of Izaya, who may not even be in Ikebukuro.

* * *

Several cellphones began to chime around him. More followed suit and began to ring and buzz. People took out their cellphones to check their new messages.

Roppi wondered what were the chances of all these people receiving messages at the same time, but he shrugged it off, he didn't know a lot about cell phones anyways. Still, he brought his attention to the few individuals that were not checking their phones. They were looking around in confusion and bewilderment. So apparently, this was a strange occurrence after all. Roppi didn't mind either way, all he cared about right now was that he was starting to get hungry, so he should probably look for a place to eat. Before he could worry about how he was going to pay, he noticed that there were a lot more people staring at him.

"What? No way!"

"Are you sure this is right? What if it's fake?"

"Hey, isn't that him right there?"

"I think you're right!"

"Dude, I'm going to post a reply!"

"W-wait, are you sure that's him?"

"That's him for sure! No mistaking it!"

"I'm not getting involved...my friends told me not to mess with him..."

"Hey man, look! There he is!"

"Lucky!"

Roppi was starting to get nervous. All the people who were previously ignoring him where now giving him their full attention. They were all pointing and staring at him, and whispering amongst themselves. He turned to pin a look at a group of high school girls who still had their phones out and gawking at him. Startled by the sudden scowl he was giving them, they ducked their heads down and quickly walked away. However, the group of thugs approaching him were not deterred so easily.

"You wouldn't happen to be Orihara Izaya would you?" the one who looked to be the leader of the group asked.

Roppi blinked at the gang leader, and slowly narrowed his eyes. Orihara Izaya, the man whose stem cells created him. If he was being mistaken for him, then that would mean he resembled him more than he originally thought. Also, it meant that he potentially had a lot more problems on his plate. Like this clichéd group of thugs that stood before him.

"Sorry, you must be mistaken" Roppi curtly answered before turning to distance himself from the group.

The gang leader's hand shot out and grabbed Roppi's shoulder before he could get away.

"You sure? 'Cuz I remember a guy who looks just like you, dresses like you, sounds like you, and went around calling himself Orihara Izaya"

The rest of his gang made a move to close around Roppi, but Roppi wouldn't let that happen. He ripped himself from the leader's grip and ran away, weaving through the crowd as quickly as he could.

"Fuck! Get that little worm!" the gang leader roared, as they chased after him.

Roppi could only blame himself for getting into yet another mess. He let down his guard because for a second he honestly believed that maybe humans could be civil.

* * *

To: All Dollars members

Sender: Nakura

Title: ORIHARA IZAYA WANTED!

Message: The yakuza are out for his blood! Orihara Izaya has gone and done something over the top this time! He stole a valuable secret from them and killed a few of their guys too. Now, he's running around Ikebukuro trying to hide from them! I hear the yakuza is even offering money for anyone who finds him. The price for his head is 700,000 yen. I wonder who'll get him first? I might just find him and hand him over myself, I got a grudge against that guy anyway.

* * *

Izaya grinned at the message he posted on the Dollars message board. It was probably the best, and most amusing way to find Shingen's experiment. It could easily be taken as a joke, but the kind of people he was targeting with this message was the rash, over-confident people who would believe anything they read and would even consider going after someone with an infamous reputation like himself. They would pursue his clone and force him out in the open. And they wouldn't know that the real Orihara Izaya was actually still safe inside his apartment building in Shinjuku, while his look-alike was running around in Ikebukuro. He planned to smoke out Shingen's little experiment, play around with him a little bit, and possibly see what he is capable of. He didn't care whether his twin died or not, but if he didn't make it out of this little ordeal alive, then he deserved it.

Plus, his family was dysfunctional enough as it is, and he didn't approve of another person running around with his face anyway.

Of course, he was also curious of how other people would react to the great Orihara Izaya's moment of weakness. No doubt, his enemies would take advantage of this sudden development and swoop in for the kill while he was vulnerable. He'd even weed out who would backstab him in moments like these, though he already had a rough idea of who was waiting for a chance to dispose of him. It'd be hilarious to see them celebrating his death, and to see the shock on their faces when he turned out to be alive and kicking.

Then he would deal with them accordingly.

He checked his browser. The responses from the Dollars board came piling in.

Sender: Miho

Message: Is this a joke? This is a joke right? Why would the yakuza make an announcement like that, wouldn't that like, bring attention to their secret or something?

Sender: Haruko

Message: I just saw Orihara Izaya near Sunshine 60! He was being chased by a group of thugs!

Sender: Fruits Punch Samurai

Message: Haha! Yess! Serves that bastard right! I hope they beat the crap outta him!

Sender: Kahlua Milk

Message: Izayan won't go down for anyone but Shizu-shizu! Kyaaaa!

Sender: Warden

Message: What does that even mean? -_-

Sender: Gaki

Message: I don't know about a reward, but there were some yakuza guys looking around with his picture asking if people if they have seen him...

Sender: Young Leaf

Message: Let's hope he gets what's coming to him then

Sender: Tanaka Taro

Message: So, it's true that he's in trouble with the yakuza?

Sender: MONTA

Message: I see a lot more yakuza on the move than usual...I think there might be some truth to this after all.

Sender: Miho

Message: Come on! You guys don't seriously believe this do you?!

Sender: Rabisan

Message: I see him on Otome Road now! I'm trying to follow him, but he's running really fast, I don't think I can keep up!

Izaya read each and every response.

"Wow, people have spotted him already" he whistled, ever-impressed at the Dollar's usefulness "and he seems to be outrunning them for now" Izaya smirked. But sooner or later, he would hit a dead end. He didn't know the layout of the city after all.

Though the information broker was surprised that the yakuza were actually getting involved. If "Gaki" said so, then it must be true. Still, Izaya double-checked to confirm the validity of the statement. Within a few minutes, he got the information he was looking for. Apparently, his look-alike snuck into one of Nebula Corp's delivery trucks that happened to be delivering some new weapon to the Awakusu-kai, and he attacked the driver when he got out. The security camera managed to capture him as he made his escape, and they mistakenly identified him as Izaya. The delivery men checked the contents of the truck, but found that nothing was out of place. It turns out that the only reason they are currently chasing him is because Akabayashi saw and reported 'Nakura's' post on the Dollars website. Shiki sent out his subordinates to capture and question 'Izaya' as a precaution.

Izaya laughed at the irony.

He walked to the fridge and checked what there might be inside. There wasn't much, so he checked the cupboards. He wrinkled his nose in distaste.

"Doesn't she have anything that isn't instant or canned? You'd think a girl her age would know how to cook for herself..." he promptly shut the door and sauntered back to the couch. He was currently inside his neighbour's apartment. She went on a business trip for the week, so it was the perfect place to hide out, on the off chance that some would try to come to his home in order to find him. He'd still be able to use his own wireless network since his router was located in his apartment on the other side of his neighbour's living room wall. It was an ideal hideout, and his neighbour would be none the wiser when she gets back. As he sat back down on the couch, he checked his phone.

He had three missed calls from Shiki. He ignored them. He was probably trying to settle the matter by reaching Izaya directly and there was no fun in that. Izaya had six new text messages as well.

Dota-chin: [Where are you?]

Saki: [Izaya-san, are you alright?]

Kida: [I got intel saying that you're being chased. What's happening?]

Courier: [You really are in trouble this time aren't you?]

Kida: [Oyy! Did you die or something?]

Kida: [Hurry and reply already, Saki is getting worried.]

Dota-chin wasn't the type to express his concern for Izaya's well being, and he also knew that Izaya was capable of taking care of himself, yet he subtly let Izaya know he was there if he needed help. How sweet. Celty was probably scolding him. That left...

[Don't worry Masomi-kun~ Let Saki know everything is under control. Also, if get any more reports about me, report them back to me thanks~ !]

Kida's reply was instantaneous:

[Even if I get a report that you died, would you want me to tell you that as well?]

[Exactly! Masomi-kun is such a quick learner!]

[Shut up and die.]

Izaya smirked as he set his phone down on the coffee table and brought his attention back to his laptop.

"Now, Roppi-kun, why don't you show me what you are capable of?"

* * *

He wasn't sure how long he was running. But Roppi was sure that he should have lost a few of the delinquents chasing him. He stole a glance behind him and found that, no, they were all still chasing him. Just some were slower than others.

But they were all annoyingly persistent.

Why were they chasing him exactly? It must be a pretty damn good reason for them to be chasing him for this long. He took a sharp turn down another road. He saw a small alley between two convenient stores and quickly darted into it before the others rounded the corner. He leaned on the wall and he gasped for breath as he heard the group run past his hiding spot. He took a long shuttering breath of relief as the footsteps faded away. He finally lost them.

"We got you now you little shit!"

Roppi cursed as he saw the slower ones from the pack stopped just outside the alleyway he was currently hiding in. He turned to run out the other end of the alley, and skidded into a halt. The first half of the group that ran past him rounded the store and cut him off at the other end. The second half was behind him, effectively trapping him. For a bunch of thugs, they were surprisingly organized. There were roughly eleven of them surrounding him. He was definitely outnumbered.

"Didn't your mothers teach you how to behave?" Roppi grumbled. "Chasing an innocent bystander is hardly good manners."

The leader sneered "I think my mom would find it in her heart to forgive me...when I collect the reward money for takin' your scrawny ass down."

Ah, so this was about money. Typical.

With only a loud cry as an only warning, both groups charged at Roppi with reckless abandon.

* * *

**[Author's Note] When I read the things Izaya pulled in the novels, I thought, wow. Izaya is really a jerkface (love him for it though). I'm not going to ask you to not hate him for it, but there needs to be a bad guy, and Izaya will take up that mantle for a -brief- section of the story. And rest assured, he won't be the main antagonist for long, and I will explain his motivation behind his actions soon.**

**Usernames and who they are:**

**Haruko: Blond-haired ganguro girl (the one who bullied Anri)**

**Kahlua Milk: Karisawa Erika**

**Gaki: Akabayashi (yakuza executive)**

**Young Leaf: ****Kuronuma** Aoba  


**Tanaka Taro: Mikado**

**MONTA: Kadota**

**Rabisan: Man in rabbit suit**

**All others are either made up or a reference to another anime. Username information taken from the Durarara! Wiki and the Durarara! livejournal (archive page 401986)  
**

**I'm sorry about the late chapter. There was a death in the family, and it's been a hard week. Things are calming back down now, and writing is a good stress relief for me. I'm not going to say updates will return back to normal because school is starting soon too. But they will happen slowly but surely. I'll probably switch from weekly to bi-weekly updates. I really like writing Being Human, it's really all I think about lately, and I refuse to put it on hiatus, especially since the climax of this arc is on the way.**

**Thank you for reading my cherished readers. Your always welcome to tell me what you think, correct me, point something out, or even throw a carrot at me. Not sure why or how you'd manage that, but you are welcome to regardless.**


	7. Thoughts and Without Thinking

**Warning: Rating is going up this chapter. Heavy violence, and swearing abound.**

* * *

"I mean, does that boy even know how nerve-wracking it is to sit here wondering where he went? And it's not the type of fear that comes and goes, it's that kind that fills you up until you feel like you're going to burst! Like BAM! I'm going to burst! Ahh, now I just might burst into tears! That boy of mine, what am I going to do with him?"

Namie was not a tolerant person. Sure, when it came to important matters (like her little brother) she was patient as a saint. But for rambling old men, she had a specific limit. And that limit was breached about ten minutes ago.

"I called you for information, Kishitani-san, not to give you my condolences"

"Ah, and here I thought I could stall you until you lost your patience and hung up. You are quite the formidable opponent Miss Namie, I'll give you that. Should I have been more obnoxious?"

Damn this old geezer.

"If you think I'm out to steal your research, you can relax. I'm not interested in that."

"To trust one of _his_ employee's word. And the former chief of Yagiri Pharmaceuticals at that. You must take me for a fool Miss Namie"

Well of course, she thought, but she wasn't about to say that out loud.

"I'm less interested in the mechanics and more on the rationale" Namie stated evenly.

"Rationale?"

"As a fellow scientist, I know how the process begins. Whenever I begin any endeavour, I have a clear goal in mind. Why I began, why I continue, what do I hope to achieve. I'm just curious, what do you hope to achieve with this boy you have created?"

Her query was met with silence. It was broken a moment later with an unexpectedly wistful tone.

"What makes a human Miss Namie?"

Namie was caught off guard with his sudden philosophical question. She was slightly confused at the seemingly unrelated question, but as long as he was talking, she would eventually get the information she needed. So she replied, "In what sense?"

"In your sense, what do you think makes a human?"

"Well, what makes a human is our distinctive anatomy. The unique size ratio and layout of our organs and skeletal frame have evolved specifically for the way modern humans function. It's a simple question of characteristics."

Shingen hummed, "So, If I were to build a being with the same anatomical structure, then have I successfully created a human?"

Namie frowned "No, I don't think it qualifies to be a human"

"Oh? And why not?"

"If it was made by artificial means, then it can't possibly be human"

"Oh ho, I see. Then by that logic, babies created by unnatural or artificial means such as vitro fertilization or induced labour, are not considered human, am I correct?"

The usually stoic woman scowled. Under any other circumstances she would have stubbornly stuck with her logic. But her own precious little brother had an 'unnatural birth'. Their mother was suffering from internal bleeding during her pregnancy. The doctors had no choice but to induce the labour prematurely with drugs. She had given birth to Seiji during her 32th week of pregnancy. He was so small. A small, delicate, premature baby. When Namie first pressed her face against the glass case box that held her baby brother, her heart was moved. She vowed to protect and love that tiny little angel with all her heart.

She would be damned if she allowed this imbecile to indirectly label her baby brother as anything else than a perfectly normal human being.

"...I admit that's not..." she mumbled and left the rest of the sentence trail off. After all, admitting she was wrong was a very difficult thing.

"That's not a very fair way to judge if one is human or not, is it?" he finished for her. She could almost hear the nutty doctor's smirk through the phone "I'll ask you again Miss Namie, what makes a human?"

She actually thought harder before she answered this time. "I'll stick by my anatomical definition"

"So as long as the body is right, it's human?"

This man was really starting to tick her off. "Why are you asking me this?"

"Only to hear your theory of what a human is before I explain my own. It's always nice to hear _'a fellow scientist's rationale'_" he quipped, casually flinging her own words back at her.

So he knew she was digging for information. Playing the empathy card only roused his suspicions. It would be best if she feigned ignorance to his subtle accusation and played along. Honestly, it was really difficult to remember that this man was not as moronic as he seems.

"Fine, then if the subject passes the anatomic criteria, then it must pass the intellectual and emotional criteria to be considered a human." Thinking quickly was not a difficult feat for Namie. She thought of a definition that would support Seiji. To hell with anyone else that didn't fit into the description. They didn't matter anyway. "Any animal has a certain level of intelligence, but are limited to natural instincts. A human's intelligence is enough to grant them self-awareness. They should have a sense of self-created by their own thoughts and morals. They must be able to feel emotions, it is what makes humans interact with one another. Rational and/or irrational behaviour formed by emotions is a significant human characteristic. Above all else, the subject should know how to love. If they are not capable of that at least, then they shouldn't be called human."

Namie was satisfied with her answer. Seiji was ruled by his own love. He would do foolish things for his love, and he could be reasoned with by his love. His thoughts were consumed by it and his morals were built around it. She didn't care if there was some sort of discrepancy in her explanation. As long as Seiji was included in it, she would stick to it. The doctor could argue all he wanted.

However, Shingen made a satisfied hum. "That is a reasonable statement. Almost similar to my own. Which brings me to the reason why I made the boy."

"And what would that be?"

"To create the perfect human. Physically, psychologically, and emotionally. Of course the term 'perfect' is my own ideal image of what a human should be. Like how you described, I believe a human should be capable of feeling emotions, and have individuality or a sense of self if you will. I had programmed him with natural instinct from the start, everything else he picked up on his own. I have a checklist of sorts, of the characteristics he needs to exhibit before I recognize him as the perfect human. He passed most of the criteria, but there are a few characteristics I have yet to see in him."

"Why not just 'program' him to exhibit those characteristics?"

"Because a human should learn their own faults and resolve those themselves. Therefore, they should also develop their own characteristics by themselves. To implement my own set of rules and ideas into him would make him no different from a programmable pocketbook! Where is the challenge in that? I'd rather let nature take its course. It took a lot of patience, but the boy has advanced this far by himself, now it is up to him to complete the transition."

"That's all good and well, but now your 'boy' is out loose in Ikebukuro. With absolutely no experience with the outside world, I'd say his survival rate is pretty low right now Kishitani-san. You may want to think of developing a backup." Namie stated the morbid news in a detached, almost bored tone. She had to say it, it was the truth after all. Especially after the mess Izaya created, Shingen's pet project didn't have a chance of surviving. It was better for Shingen to come in terms with that now. Besides, Namie was more than eager to knock the doctor down a peg or two.

"Ah, Miss Namie, you continue to underestimate me. And moreover, you are underestimating him"

* * *

He had no time to think, his body simply reacted.

Roppi ducked under the fist that would have connected with his jaw and planted his own fist into his attacker's gut. The man's breath came whooshing out of him as he doubled over in pain. Roppi wordlessly grabbed the man's arm and flipped him over his head. He was sent crashing into two other thugs charging at him.

Three other thugs lunged at him. Roppi lept onto one's head and used the added height to jump in the air, sending the man toppling to the ground. Roppi descended upon the second man and kicked his head. His head connected with the brick wall with a solid crack, he slid down and joined his fallen comrades on the ground. As Roppi landed on the ground a foot suddenly came into his vision. The third man successfully kicked Roppi in his side. He brought he leg back up to kick him again when Roppi grabbed the offending limb and yanked the man towards himself, smashing his fist into his jaw as hard as he could. Another body hit the floor.

The raven shook his hand and flexed his fingers to ease the pain from that last punch. He levelled a glare at the rest of the group.

The remaining men stopped their advances and exchanged uncertain glances with each other. This guy just took out six of their guys all by himself. It was pretty damn intimidating to say the least.

Roppi on the other hand was silently (and begrudgingly) thanking Shingen and those fighting simulations he put him through. As an inexperienced fighter without real hands-on experience, his movements where far from graceful, but they were effective against these low calibre opponents.

The leader scowled at the sight of his men on the floor and barked to the rest of them "Don't just stand there! Grab him! Hold him down and beat the shit out of that little bastard!"

Two guys seized him from behind and pinned his arms. Now more confident that their target couldn't move, the remaining two lackeys approached Roppi and began beating him. Roppi grunted silently as their blows landed, then one of them planted his foot into Roppi's back sending him lurching forward.

He felt a hand grab a fistful of his hair and lift his head back up again. The leader was grinning down at him. "Well Orihara, I hope I'm makin' my point clear here. You have no chance against us, just come along and you don't have to suffer anymore"

Instead of getting a plea of mercy, the leader got an undaunted ruby-eyed gaze.

"Please" Roppi scoffed, "This hardly counts as pain, your punches are tame at best"

The leader flushed a deep shade of red and opened his mouth to retort, but was cut off as Roppi's head came rushing forward and collided with his nose. The taller man howled in pain and cupped his now bleeding nose.

Roppi took advantage of his shocked captors and grabbed their collars while they were distracted. He smacked both of their heads together with a sickening thunk.

There were two more henchmen, one of them thought instinctively and lunged at Roppi while he was facing the other direction.

There are some moments in the heat of a fight where people do stupid things. Like charge at an experienced fighter with reckless abandon, or turn your back on an underhanded adversary. At that moment, it may seem harmless, but once you realize that you just stuck one foot in your own grave, you wonder what possessed you into thinking that was a good idea in the first place.

But the poor man did not know Roppi, or what would set him off. And that is why it seemed like a good idea to grab Roppi's jacket from behind and used it to fling Roppi into the alley wall. The slightly oversized jacket slipped easily from Roppi's person while the boy himself hit the wall.

The man holding the jacket sneered in triumph. His victory was short-lived as Roppi slowly straightened himself and snarled.

"_**Give it back**_"

The man would have taunted him, if only the boy's tone wasn't as cold as ice and the words weren't dripping with venom. There was an underlying promise of pain somewhere there. The man gulped and unconsciously took a step back. The alley was suddenly more suffocating than before.

The man was suddenly found himself on his back staring up at the sky, his face throbbing. '_Wha-?_'

A fist interrupted his thoughts, adding to the already excruciating pain. Roppi straddled the man punching the man again, and again, and again. The man's friend dove at the crazed boy to save him from the onslaught of violence. The angry raven grabbed the man by the neck and lifted him until the man's feet barely scrapped the pavement. He gasped and clawed at his hand, but it continued to squeeze his throat. His movements became weaker, and then, they finally stopped. Roppi promptly dropped him as he passed out from the lack of air. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the other man on the floor stirring. His foot came down on the man's face, all movements stopped after that.

Roppi bent down and retrieved his jacket, dusted it off, and put it on again.

And then, there was one.

Roppi returned his attention to the leader who stood there shaking with anger and a hint of something else. During the time Roppi took out his remaining four men, the leader managed to recover from his broken nose and picked up a discarded thermoplastic rod.

He gripped his weapon and swung it at Roppi's shoulder, it impacted his shoulder with a loud thud. Roppi didn't flinch, he continued his advance like nothing happened. His slightly peeved eyes bore into his attacker.

The leader was starting to panic, that blow to his shoulder had all his force behind it, It should have broken his bone! He took a step back and swung again, with more or less the same result. He lifted the rod above his head and swung it down to hit the raven's head.

Roppi caught it before it landed on its intended target. He gripped the rod tightly, spider-like cracks spread out from under his fist until the rod finally broke.

The leader's eyes bugged out and dropped his now useless weapon "W-What the fuck are you?"

Roppi's lips twisted into a self-depreciating smirk "A monster, of sorts" he answered as he whipped out a scalpel from his pocket and plunged it into the man's side. The man cried out and clutched at his wound, his legs were shaking uncontrollably. Then, he abruptly spun and fled from the scene, wisely choosing 'flight' over 'fight' this time.

The raven stood victorious over the bodies littering the alleyway, some unconscious, some too injured to move. He shook his head in disgust. The leader didn't even hesitate when he abandoned his buddies. Humans were despicable. He stepped over the tangled limbs and stumbled out of the alley. The adrenaline was wearing off and the exhaustion and pain was sinking in. He wanted to be far away from this group before the regained consciousness and decided to come after him again. He left the alley without a backwards glance.

A shaken teen wearing a yellow bandana peered out from his hiding spot behind a dumpster where he witnessed the entire brawl. He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text message notifying his former leader of what he just witnessed.

* * *

"You modified his body? Why on earth would you do that after all that talk about recreating a human?" Namie said incredulously.

"I admit it punches a few holes in the whole concept when you put it that way. But I am a child at heart. I like to make cool things. And making him a super human is very, _very_ cool."

"That still doesn't explain what that has to do with your goal to recreate a human. He's hardly fit to be called that now!"

"Now that's mean. Are you saying that a person with prosthetic limbs is no longer a human? Or an athlete under the influence of anabolic steroids?"

"Well no, but-"

"Then I see no problem with it. He is just a more advanced form of humans. A human nonetheless. Surely, you can think of a few human or human-like beings that are more 'gifted' than the rest?"

As a matter of fact, Namie could several Ikebukuro residents under that description.

"That's no excuse. If you are aiming to make a human, then make a human."

"Oh, but there is already an abundance of humans in this world. It's such a low goal to aim for, wouldn't you say? Now if I took a completely different route... say, if I made a monster and turn him into human? Change what it means to be human along the way? And _that's_ the challenge right there. What was that saying again? Something like, when life gives you lemons, make orange juice and leave people wondering how and why you did it. Same concept."

This man was a lunatic, Namie decided. His thoughts were so disjointed and sounded downright absurd at times. She was also worried for her own sanity for being able to follow him and agreeing with his logic.

* * *

"What the hell is that Izaya bastard doing?"

Something really stank about this whole situation. Kida managed to locate Izaya in the city. He had a few contacts from the Yellow Scarves that pointed him in the right direction. One of them even witnessed a scuffle between Izaya and a large gang firsthand. Izaya took off after remarkably winning the seemingly one-sided fight.

Kida was troubled. Izaya was not the type to get his hands dirty. Orihara Izaya was the type of guy that got off on pulling the strings behind the scenes and watching the chaos he created unfold from a safe distance. He'd leave the grunt work to his own underlings. Like himself, he noted bitterly. He hated reminding himself, but he knew he was dancing in the palm of that manipulative bastard's hand. And there was nothing he could do about it. For now.

Earlier, he thought about taking advantage of Izaya's predicament. News traveled fast in the city, as soon as he heard that Izaya was being pursued, his first instinct was to see how he could use the situation to his advantage. He texted him to confirm whether or not it was true. The reply he got was what set him on edge.

Not only did the informant confirm he was fine, he asked Kida to monitor his own situation as a third person and report any new developments. If that didn't sound like a trap, Kida didn't know what did. If Izaya was really in trouble, he wouldn't ask Kida, whom he barely trusted, for help. It didn't sit well with the young blond. Any thoughts of overthrowing his boss was tossed away. He even dismissed his idea of feeding him false information, for all he knew, Izaya may be waiting for any hint of insubordination to use as an excuse to crush him. If this was another trap, he'd put himself and Saki into danger again.

If he wanted to challenge him, he needed to know for sure that he was vulnerable, and not faking it only to lure him in and cut him down. Izaya was a sneaky, cunning bastard. It is extremely rare to catch him off guard. He was cautious and methodical. Direct and reckless was not his style.

Which brought him back to his current dilemma. What the hell is Izaya doing running around Ikebukuro when the Dollars Group was suddenly after him? In these types of situations, he would go underground for a bit until things calmed down and it is less dangerous for him. Yet here he was, out in the open, tempting his pursuers within arm's reach. True, he often does the same thing with Shizuo, but he only has to deal with one man. Even if that one man's strength exceeds the strength of thirty men, it is still one person to outrun, outsmart and outmanoeuvre. The Dollar's group was huge. Dollar's members could be anyone, and they could be anywhere. He couldn't possibly run or hide from them all. They had eyes everywhere. Kida couldn't fathom what he was thinking.

"Why does he even need me to report to him when he is there himself?" he muttered to himself. Even if he was testing his loyalty, he'd be too distracted from dealing with thugs to do anything if Kida stepped out of line.

Unless...it was someone else being chased around.

He double checked with his contact if he was sure that the person he saw was Izaya. He replied back with an affirmative, the one he saw fighting the gang looked and sounded exactly like the informant that sold them information during the gang war between the Blue Squares and the Yellow Scarves.

Kida frowned. His contact was a reliable guy, and had come in contact with Izaya in the past, but he still wanted to see it for himself. Hearing that Orihara Izaya was spontaneously caught in deep shit wasn't something that you just believe.

Plus Orihara Izaya and descriptions like "crazy strong", "took out the entire gang" and "broke it with his bare hands" did not match up. It just didn't sound like the informant at all. It sounded more like Shizuo than anything.

He picked up his speed as he approached the intersecting roads ahead. According to the most recent tip he received, Izaya should be passing through here soon. He sat at an entrance way of a nearby building and waited. It had a high vantage point and gave him a good view of the area, an ideal spot to keep an eye on the incoming pedestrians. He dutifully sent a text to Izaya about "his" recent fight with the gang members while he waited. He withheld the fact that he was currently scoping out the area he would most likely be seen next.

Sure enough, he caught sight of a figure in a black coat briskly walking through the crowd. He followed the figure with his eyes. He wasn't certain it was Izaya. His hood was up and his atmosphere around him was anxious and tense. A far cry from Izaya's usual confident strut. Not to mention, the fur-lining his trademark coat was the wrong color, but he couldn't base any assumptions on that.

It wasn't until someone grabbed his arm, forcefully spinning him around, when Kida actually recognized him. The man stumbled towards his aggressor and his hood fell off, revealing his face. Kida knew that (currently-not-so) smug face anywhere. Izaya scowled and slashed at the man. A flash of silver, and the man unhanded him and hissed as he gripped his bleeding arm. As soon as he was free, the informant fled from the scene. Several other people tore after him.

That choice of weapon, and that was his face without a doubt. Kida ran after them. It definitely appeared to be Izaya in trouble. But something still stank about the whole situation.

* * *

**[Author's Note] First fighting scene I've ever written. I feel like I rushed it, but while I was writing it, it felt like it was dragging on. Maybe because I'm new at writing fight scenes. Redundant sentence. Stop rambling. Got it.**

**Grr. School. I really should be doing my homework, but who needs sleep anyway? I really did not have time to look this over as much as I usually do, but if you do see any mistakes and stuff, let me know! Am I making sense right now? I don't even know, it's 3 am. What is wake? I are no sleep. I don't even. *collapse***

**Next update in two weeks! Hopefully sooner *fingers crossed***


	8. People You Just Don't Mess With

Shinra knew his father was hiding something. He wasn't sure what it was, but it was something big, he was sure. This morning he had called him from Nebula, sounding distinctly tense, and asked him if any visitors had come. They had not, and Shinra informed him so. Shingen distractedly thanked him and hung up. He'd never witnessed his father so troubled before.

He was acting strange since he arrived in Ikebukuro. Well, more than usual. And Celty had felt it too.

He first noticed it when she brought him to the apartment earlier that week. He knew his father only packed lightly, bringing only the things he would need for his assignment. He would even forgo his toiletries and he would only bring a few clothes; he preferred to buy them afterwards to avoid the hassle of carrying them.

And yet, his father had brought home a suspiciously large suitcase.

"_What's in the suitcase father?"_

"_Ah, just some equipment as I've already told Celty-kun. Fear not, it'll be gone in the morning my boy."_

"_...It looks heavy, need help?"_

"_No, no. I'm fine. I'll just drop it in this room. It looks unoccupied. Mine now!" he announced before going in, shutting the door behind him._

_Shinra actually did not intend to help his father carry his luggage. He was merely confirming his suspicions. He was now more convinced that his father had something strange in his suitcase. Why else would he go through all that trouble to carry it around? If it was "just some equipment" he would usually shipped it over beforehand or have another group from Nebula take it to the labs from the airport. Whatever it is he is carrying, it must be very important to him. _

_Or maybe he was over-thinking things._

_Shingen emerged from his room a few moments later, closed the door and headed to the washroom, probably to take a bath after a long flight._

_He exchanged a glance with Celty before approaching the closed door. He reached for the knob and turned it._

_Or attempted to. The door was locked from the inside._

_Now, he was fully convinced his father was hiding something. This level of paranoia practically confirms it._

_Celty offered to open the door by forging a makeshift key with her shadows, but Shinra politely declined. If his father was hiding something, that was his own business. As long as it didn't interfere with their love, he didn't care in the least._

_Celty punched him for saying such embarrassing things._

Shinra's mind wandered after that. Imagining a fumingly embarrassed Celty had eclipsed the rest of his thoughts.

A knock at the door shattered his blissful daydream that somehow morphed into Celty blushing like a schoolgirl _in _a schoolgirl uniform. He reluctantly got up and made his way to the door. He opened it and came face to face with a group of sharply dressed men. He focused on the man in the middle, wearing a white suit.

"Mister Shiki, how can I help you?" Shinra asked as he stepped aside to let the group of men inside.

"I have some questions Shinra, and my usual source of information is being unusually quiet. I'm hoping you can enlighten me as to why that is."

"You mean Izaya? That's weird. Usually it's harder to get him to stay silent."

Shinra followed Shiki as he walked into the apartment and sat down on one of the couches. He was Shinra's VIP guest, he had gotten used to treating the place as his own. He even had a spare key to the place in case of emergencies. He still knocked first however.

The rest of the men remained standing as Shinra sat on the couch across Shiki.

The young doctor studied the man curiously, he looked tired and a bit irritated. He must be having a bad day.

"Would you like something to drink Mister Shiki?"

"Tea is fine" the yakuza executive sighed as he raked a hand through his hair.

Shinra headed to the kitchen and quickly prepared some tea. He brought back a tray with a ceramic teapot and cups and a small bowl of snacks. He set it down in front of Shiki and poured tea for the both of them.

Shiki drank in silence, then set his empty cup down and focused on Shinra again. He seemed less tense now, but still as serious as ever.

"Have you spoken with Orihara today?"

Shinra glanced up "No sir, I haven't spoken with him. Is he in some sort of trouble?"

Shiki's brow furrowed. He signalled to one of his men, who drew out a CD case from his pocket and handed it to Shiki.

"It sure is looking that way. I'm at a loss as to how to deal with this situation, I'd prefer to show you, rather than explaining it first. If you would play this, you'll understand what I mean"

He offered the disk to the young doctor, who took it to his entertainment unit. He opened the case to reveal a disk labelled "SECURITY FOOTAGE". Curiosity peaked, he placed it into his DVD player and returned to his seat. He wondered what Izaya could have possibly done this time.

The screen showed an indoor parking garage, an unmarked trunk pulled in and stopped in front of the unloading area. Two men emerged from the truck, one headed to the door on the far left of the screen and the other headed to the back of the truck.

Shinra noticed there was no audio, it would make it more difficult to identify the two men. He tried to make out their faces, but the men's backs were facing the camera. He'd have to rewatch the footage in order to catch a glimpse of their faces.

'_Maybe they were Izaya's underlings, and started something with the Awakusu-kai? Is that what set Shiki on edge?'_

The man opened the back of the truck and was telling something to the other, when suddenly, a figure from inside the truck immerged and struck the man in the face. The man was knocked over and the figure landed on the ground. He only paused for a brief moment before quickly running off, but Shinra already caught a glimpse of his face. Shinra's mouth dropped open in shock.

'_Did Izaya want to die or something? What is he trying to pull? In broad daylight no less!'_

"This footage was taken from our security cameras earlier this morning. These men were transporting a rather dangerous weapon. When the boss heard about it, he immediately purchased it in order it keep it out of dangerous hands. We've been trying to keep it's transportation a secret in order to avoid any...complications. But as you can see, we've hit a rather distressing complication regardless of our efforts."

Shiki rested his chin over his laced fingers "We've checked the cargo, and nothing was stolen. But I am worried that he may have fiddled with the machinery itself, or if he took pictures and would sell them to another faction. Either scenario is unfavourable for us. I've tried contacting him directly to settle the matter, and I've even sent some men to his apartment. No luck in reaching him. He is purposely avoiding us."

The bespectacled young man pondered over the new information. He was tempted to ask what kind of weapon it was, but decided if they were going to great lengths to keep it a secret, it's probably best to not ask. The less he knew, the safer he would be.

"I see. But, if Izaya wanted to expose the details of that weapon, I'd expect him to do so in a more subtle, roundabout method. He's careful to cover his own tracks. For him to do something like this directly, it doesn't very Izaya-esque. It's too bold of a move, even for him, and especially against you, Mister Shiki. This may just be a misunderstanding."

"My thoughts exactly. In any other case, I would have given him the benefit of the doubt, but messages have been popping up on the Dollars website saying things like 'Orihara steals a big secret from the yakuza', I cannot overlook something like that."

"Dollars?" Shinra picked up his phone from the coffee table. There were several unread messages from Dollars. He read the first few, they confirmed Shiki's claims. He didn't notice the incoming messages, he was too busy thinking of Celty and that whole situation with his father.

Wait.

"Mister Shiki, did that van happen to come from Nebula?"

It was a long shot. But his father had asked him earlier if anyone had come to visit. Shiki happened to arrive a few minutes after he called. Even if Shiki was asking about Izaya, what were that chances that the two incidents were connected?

Shiki eyes snapped up to meet his and he nodded.

"You know something Kishitani-sensei" A statement, not a question.

The young doctor pursed his lips. "I'm not entirely sure, but I may be able to get some answers for you after I make a phone call."

* * *

"Izaya did this?" Togusa said as he nudged one of the thugs on the ground. There were ten others littering the ground. "I didn't think this was his style"

"It's not" Kadota frowned. They rushed to the convenient store as soon as they read the post describing Izaya's miraculous victory against a group of thugs here.

Togusa turned back to him "So what do we do now, Kadota?

"We either keep looking, or wait for another lead on where he might be" Kadota said.

Walker sat up straighter in his seat "Hey! I got a reply! It's the admin! The admin contacted us again!"

Kadota turned to him, "What does it say?"

"It says 'I'll send you his location shortly, in return, please help him out'. Woah! The admin is kind of cool, huh? I'm starting to think he's the Tsuna type of leader isn't he? At first you think he is a no good leader who does nothing, but then he goes all 'Boss-man' in a tight spot!"

"Uwah! That's so true! Does that make us his 'family'? Awesome!" Erika asked.

Kadota tuned out the rest of their conversation.

The last time the admin answered to them was when they picked up a girl with a scar around her neck. Afterwards, the admin organized the first ever Dollars meeting. Kadota wondered if a similar situation would happen this time around. He doubted it, the situation was too out of control. The Dollars was currently divided by people like them who looked to help Izaya, people going after Izaya for money other personal reasons, people who didn't want to get involved, and people who were sceptical of the whole situation. If, for some reason, the leader needed to round up the Dollars again this time, he would have trouble coordinating everyone.

Until the whole situation clears up that is. For that to happen, they needed prove Izaya's innocence, and to do that, they needed to catch up with Izaya first.

Kadota wasn't particularly close with the notorious informant. They were friends from high school and they occasionally hung out and talked. But, they respected each other's personal lifestyles and did not get involved with each other's affairs (though Kadota suspected that Izaya would poke his nose in his affairs behind his back regardless).

But this time, it was different. Izaya was being actively pursued by the Dollars (or at least a large portion of them). After seeing the amount of people in the online gang with his own eyes, he didn't wish that fate on anyone. Izaya was in over his head, and Kadota was in a position to help him out.

"The admin again!" Walker announced, "He said Izaya is at 60-kai street, being chased by another group of thugs!"

Kadota nodded, "Right, let's go then"

* * *

Hachimenroppi does not admit he is wrong often. He would cling to his ideas like a stubborn child. But being exhausted, injured and chased for the second time within the hour, he was willing to admit that _maybe_ he should have listened to Shingen and stayed in the lab.

He didn't know how long he could run from this group, he was still tired and hurt from the last round of thugs. And this group seemed to be twice the size of the previous. He wouldn't be able to defend himself as well this time around.

He grit his teeth and pushed himself to run faster. He just needed somehow loose this group, and hide until he could figure something out. He had enough of these humans.

Leading the group into another alley in hopes of losing them in the maze of turns was the only plan of action he could come up with in his haste. His plan backfired on him when he hit a dead end in an open lot, the exit of which he just ran in through. His pursuers ran in after him, and Roppi found himself trapped for the second time that day.

He scanned the lot desperately for any chance to escape, when he spotted a chain link fence at the far end of the lot. He broke off into a mad dash towards it and began to scale it as quick as he could. He wasn't fast enough, it seems. A strong grip wrapped his ankle and pulled him down, with the help of a few others. Roppi fell back and unceremoniously landed in a heap on the group.

He felt himself getting lifted by the scruff of his shirt and thrown into the metal fence that rattled in protest. Roppi gripped at the fence weakly and used it to steady himself. He felt disgusted for showing his weakness in front of these humans, but his body was at its limit. He didn't think he had the energy to run anymore.

He turned and glared defiantly at the delinquents behind him, and noticed for the first time that they were all carrying various weapons. He definitely didn't have the energy to deal with all of them.

"Don't try any funny business now, we heard about your scuffle with those other guys earlier. But unlike them, we came prepared. And I'd like to see you try to crush these with your bare hands" the brunette in the front said, tapping his metal bat against the concrete.

Roppi narrowed his eyes "How did you find out about that?" Those other thugs should still be out cold, and he was sure there were no witnesses passing by. Did the leader contact more men to take him down? If so, he'd expect that bastard to at least show up to get revenge. Even if he would be hiding behind the larger group like the coward he was.

"The Dollars has eyes everywhere. You mess with one of us, the rest of us know. And we don't appreciate people messing with us very much" said Random Henchmen number two.

"Dollars?" Roppi recalled the mysterious online gang Kanra told him about all those months ago "What do the Dollars want with me?"

"I think you know that, Mr. Information Broker" sneered another nameless lackey.

They knew what he was then? How did they find out? They're still referring to him as if he was Izaya, but was it possible that they knew he wasn't human? Of course, a normal human couldn't have broken a rod with his bare hands. That must have tipped them off. So they're after Shingen's research? It cleared up a few things. The last group said something about money for turning him in. They might be planning to sell him to another scientific organization for profit.

Irrational fear gripped his chest. Shingen was no saint, but at least he got a freedom of choice and speech. If he fell in the hands of anyone else, that luxury was not guaranteed. If they managed to reprogram him...

He lunged at the nearest man, catching him off guard and clocked his across the jaw. He grabbed the man's weapon and swung it at another thug. Something slammed against the side of his head and left his ear ringing.

He was careless, unlike the other group, these guys were quick to take advantage of his openings. More impacts followed after, hitting his shoulder, his stomach, his nose, his stomach again, his cheek, his knees, anywhere they could reach.

He fell back and hit the metal fence, which shuttered under the impact. He slid down uselessly like a puppet whose strings were cut. He face stung painfully, his lips were starting to swell and his vision was swimming slightly. He was vaguely aware that the men were closing around him. Roppi closed his eyes and accepted that this fight had been lost. He briefly wondered what would happen to him and if Shingen would be disappointed.

He waited for an impact to land, but it never came. He slowly opened his eyes to see that the thugs stood frozen, staring at something behind him, beyond the fence. That's when he heard an ominous voice from somewhere above his head.

"_**Found you, I-za-ya-kuuuuun**_"

Roppi felt an inexplicable chill at those words. He tilted his head upwards and tried to focus his blurry eyes. He saw two large hands gripping at the fence. The hands suddenly pulled at the fence, the metal bending under their grip obediently.

Was he really seeing that?

Roppi, in his slightly delirious state, watched in fascination as the hands yanked the crushed fence straight from the ground. Without any support on his back, he fell backwards, to the feet of the owner of those amazingly strong hands.

The newcomer wasn't particularly built, and he was slightly taller than average. What really made him look out of place was the expensive-looking bartender suit he wore. His blond hair shone against the blue sky, swaying slightly in the breeze. He wore blue-tinted sunglasses that sat low on the bridge of his nose, allowing his eyes to peek out from above them.

His honey coloured eyes bore into his own, quietly raging. Like liquid fire.

Roppi shivered despite himself. Those eyes held his gaze for a while longer before returning his attention to the cowering thugs.

He lowered the fence in his hands crumpled into a ball it as if it were paper. He sent the large ball of metal hurling at them, sending some of them flying and bowling others over. The luckier (and smarter) ones managed to scramble to their feet and run as fast as they could out of the lot. A few foolish ones stood to fight over their prey. They picked up their weapons and approached the new challenger.

The blond man looked unconcerned. He stepped over Roppi and spoke, "I'm only going to tell you once. Beat it, or I'll kill you"

The men faltered. One man gulped before seemingly gathering his courage. And he ran at him, bat lifted above his head. The blond man side stepped the thug and grabbed the back of his hoodie, lifting him swinging him around like a rag doll before releasing him, sending flying into a brick wall across the lot.

The others were stunned as they watched him as he crashed to the ground, they didn't even notice that the blond man was already behind them. They were all sent flying before they even realized what had happened.

In a blink of an eye, it was over.

He completely demolished that gang. It was twice the size of the previous group Roppi fought and he beat them in a fraction of the time, with minimal effort.

His saviour returned his attention back to Roppi on the floor. Roppi tried not to look as dumbfounded as he felt. He realized that he probably should say something.

"I-I...um, thank you..."

The man scoffed, "Don't get the wrong idea. I'm doing the polite thing and getting these runts off your back so you can return the favour by politely getting the fuck out of Ikebukuro"

Roppi frowned, '_What was this guy's problem?_'

He pushed himself to his feet and dusted himself off. The pain was wearing off, but still there. He was able to stand at least.

"I'd be more than happy to. The people in this city have caused nothing but problems since I got here."

**WHAM**

Roppi flew back and slammed into the brick wall behind him.

Amongst all the blows he received today, that punch was by far the most painful. He was convinced that it cracked his ribs, a feat that should be impossible for even a vehicle, let alone a fist. Shingen had made sure of it.

Just what the hell is this guy?

The man in question loomed over him, fist still extended. He looked livid, his face contorted in barely contained fury. Like a vicious animal that was only held back by a weak chain, ready to break free and maul his prey.

This man was strong, unbelievably so. No argument there. The gang earlier seemed to have recognized him as well. He must have an infamous reputation in this town. How could he not? With punches that sent people flying, people must know his name.

Roppi creased his brow in thought. Why did that sound familiar?

"_I saw him punch a guy at least 30 feet off the ground"_

"_The blond haired beast in a bartender suit."_

"_He's known as the strongest guy in Ikebukuro."_

"_Horrible temper, insane strength, and absolutely no brain!"_

"_He's the last person you'd want to pick a fight with."_

Roppi's eyes widened in shock. The realization struck him harder than the man's fist.

'_N-No...no way._'

"Shouldn't that be my line, flea? Aren't you the one causing trouble everywhere you go, huh? I-za-ya-kun?"

This was the fortissimo of Ikebukuro, the strongest man in the city, the one person you should never pick a fight with.

And Roppi just pissed him off.

Terrific.

He also remembered a little too late that his chat buddy, Tanaka Taro, implied that Heiwajima Shizuo often got into fights with Orihara Izaya. What position did that leave Roppi in? Not a good one.

Before he could protest that he wasn't Orihara Izaya, a black shadow shot out from the far end of the alley the blond-haired bartender emerged from earlier. It made a thin barrier between the two of them. Though he looked like he could tear through the barrier without any trouble, Heiwajima Shizuo stopped his approach. Roppi stared at the shadow in bewilderment, for shadows to form into matter and lift off the ground was implausible, not to mention impossible. His eyes dropped down and traced the black coils back to its source. A dark figure stood a few feet away from them. It wore a black suit, as dark as the shadows that swam at its feet. It's head was concealed by a yellow biker's helmet.

This time, Roppi identified the newcomer immediately.

_The Black Rider._

Two of Ikebukuro's urban legends stood before him. He never thought that he would get the chance to see them for himself. Yet here they were.

If he did end up dying today, by the hand of Heiwajima Shizuo or another gang, at least he'd be satisfied that he met other 'monsters' like himself.

* * *

**[Author's Note]**

**So...some were wondering where Shizuo was. Well...He's heeeeere~  
**

**Or as Kanra would say: Kita ****ーーー（ ﾟ∀ﾟ）ーーー****!**

**I didn't think I'd make it in time for this week. But I'm so glad I did. All of you reading this, I adore you all. And it saddens me to think I can't guarantee a weekly update like I usually would. The overwhelming numbers I'm seeing actually reading this fic makes me unable to put together a coherent sentence. I'm astounded. Thank all of you that follow and read this fanfic. I don't usually reply to reviews in my author's notes because I feel it throws off the word count too much. But I will thank everyone who has favourited/reviewed/subscribed to this fic.**

**So a big thanks to:**

**evil is everywhere, Lolo Clark, MrsRegulusBlack123, Anon, Sei, Shizu-Nii, Leader of the Moon , Sweet Nigthmare, LostMyPieces, BellaHarmonia978, ****flowers of moe overload ** , Fumikosei, SteamRaven, wheezerteebs, xXSakura -no-HanaXx, yuz, Namur and all the others who support this fanfic. 

**[EDIT: I don't know why the site removed the names with periods in them, so I replaced the periods with spaces instead. I'm so sorry about that, I hope no one got insulted that they didn't get listed. I shake my head at you FF dot net. How could you!]  
**

**Now I'll try to promise the Author's note won't have any more kissing up stuff ^^;; (I'll leave the kissy stuff for the story only then, ja?), and I'll promise that I will try to update on time again.**

**Until next time,**

**SNU**

P.S Erica and Walker are talking about Sawada Tsunayoshi from Katekyo Hitman Reborn!


	9. Nothing Left To Lose

Namie had finally given up on wheedling more information out of Shingen, and hung up on him.

It was only a matter of time, he was being extra irritating today.

Of course he played along with her little game and make her think that she had extracted a substantial amount of intel from their conversation, when in fact he simply just scratched the surface of Roppi's potential He'd much rather she didn't have any idea of what he was capable of, but he had to make a small sacrifice to keep Namie and Izaya sated for the time being. It was always better to indulge a few inconsequential details now while he was aware that they were digging for information, than for them to go digging in more sneaky ways and acquire more important details about Roppi and his project. This way, the two of them would not bother him for the time being.

Until they realized he didn't tell them jack squat, and they'd come back to him again.

But hopefully, he'd have Roppi back by then.

He didn't feel like staying at Nebula any longer than he needed to, he usually only stayed for an hour when he visited Roppi, now that he wasn't here, there wasn't any point for him to stick around. He wasn't in the mood to work either, so he planned to wait at home for any information on Roppi's whereabouts.

Shingen congratulated himself for remaining somewhat calm through this whole dilemma. Inside he was sick with worry. Even though Roppi was trained to handle even the stickiest situations, he still worried for his safety. The real world was unpredictable and strange. No matter how prepared someone is, the unexpected always catches everyone off guard. And Ikebukuro was one of the most strangest, unpredictable cities he knew. All the more reason for Shingen to fear for the boy's safety.

But he managed to converse with Namie and Izaya over the phone as nonchalantly as ever, regardless of his inner turmoil.

He hailed a cab and told the driver the address of his son's apartment. The cab driver road in silence the rest of the way, the way he looked into the rear-view mirror occasionally showed that he was probably curious by his strangely dressed passenger. The gas mask did get several stares, but he was used to it. The cab driver seemed to have sensed that his passenger was not in a talkative mood, so he kept his questions to himself for the duration of the ride.

The old doctor stretched his legs and looked out his window. There were lots of people out and about today. It was a little after the work time rush, but today it seems people decided to stay out. Maybe there was some sort of special event going on.

It was hard to believe that Roppi was actually out here somewhere as well. The idea of that boy walking around in the open made his stomach clench uneasily. He wondered what the boy was doing. He had no money, no place to go, and no one there to help him. Shingen raked a hand through his slick locks of hair. If only he had waited a little longer, he honestly would have let the boy out with his supervision. Eventually...

The boy was simply not ready yet. He was childish. He was callous. He just wasn't human enough to mingle as of yet.

"_What makes a human?"_

What indeed. He had an image in his mind what a human should be, and he planned to make Roppi into a living example. And the end result had nothing to do with physical appearances or capabilities.

A human, is capable of thinking, using their own logic. Yet cannot explain some actions with that same logic.

Humans can understand each other, sometimes without words.

And that emotional and irrational characteristic is what Roppi lacked.

The cab slowed to a stop in front of the apartment building. Shingen paid the driver and got out of the cab.

A perfect human should be capable of the most basic human characteristics. But that wasn't all Shingen expected from Roppi. To be _perfect _he had to have the best qualities man was capable of.

A person who is able to understand that everyone was equal. A person who is able to look past another person's faults and respect them for who they are. A person who had been wronged, but forgives because he learns from the experience, and knows nothing would come from dwelling in the past.

Those were all quality of a virtuous person.

'_When Roppi shows that he is capable of that, he would truly become a perfect human._'

All his thoughts were abandoned when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He quickly answered it.

"Hello? Izaya?"

There was a pause, then "...Father? ...It's me"

Shingen sighed "Oh, Shinra. Ahh, forgive me. What's the matter?"

"I um- Were you expecting someone else?" Shinra voice sounded strained. As if he just heard something he didn't want to hear. Hesitant, tense, _suspicious_.

"Oh no, there was just something I asked Izaya to find...for my assignment you see. It's rather important. Can this wait? I'm in the lobby, whatever you need to ask can wait a few minutes, you can ask me when I get there. I don't want to miss that call."

Shinra seemed to mull it over for a second. "Alright, then. Come home quickly" he said and hung up.

Shingen frowned as he entered the elevator. He should have looked had the Caller ID display before answering like that. These little slip-ups were just stirring up trouble now.

Shinra has been wary of his behaviour already, he could tell. This whole morning he'd been acting out of place out of his unease. The boy probably caught on. Should he tell him about Roppi? It didn't seem like a problem. If this kept up, he'd find out eventually anyway. And he trust his own son, the boy's main concern was Celty, and anything else was a mild source of entertainment. He'd probably get a kick out of the whole thing.

But then again... he may sell off Roppi's program schematics (if he gets his hands on them) so he could buy a large luxury house for Celty and himself...maybe he should think it over more before deciding to telling him.

He arrived at the apartment and entered it as he called out, "I'm home"

He noticed the unusual presence of several shoes at the entrance.

"Welcome back" came his son's voice from the living room. Warily, he headed to where his son was and caught sight of who the visitors were.

"Shiki-san? I didn't know that we had guests." the older doctor stated in confusion, "Forgive me for interup-" Shingen froze when he caught sight of the television. There, on the screen was what looked like video surveillance footage that was paused on a shot of a boy who was none other than Roppi. He knew it was him for sure, the jacket amongst other things gave him away.

"Actually we were waiting for you, father. There is a...situation that has occurred that I believe you may have some answers to. This is a Nebula related situation after all, and as a well-informed, high-priority employee, you'd have more information on this than I do."

Oh dear god. Think. Think Think.

"Is that so? Do tell me what happened, and I'll see what I can tell you."

'_They've discovered Roppi. Or were they mistaken? Do they know? What do I say?_ _Damn it Shinra, warn your father when there is yakusa visiting for goodness' sake!_'

So many thoughts rushed through his head as he silently panicked. Shingen fought hard to keep his voice calm and serious rather than horrified as he felt. Never had he been so glad to have his mask to conceal his face.

He had known about the cargo shipment today. He had been present when Shiki had come to see the weapon at Nebula Corporation. He was there briefly, but Shiki remembered him. With that reassurance, he told him what happened with the barest details knowing that Shingen didn't need any further explanation regarding the cargo itself.

The yakuza executive recounted the events calmly and showed him the security footage. Shingen was only half listening. Shingen was more focused on how he would cover for whatever Roppi had done without sounding too suspicious. Shiki was an excellent judge of character, and was very attentive. It would be next to impossible to lie to him, even with a mask to cover his face. But he'd still give it a shot.

"What I am really worried about is why he was in there. If you happen to know, then I ask you to enlighten me so I can figure out how to deal with this situation. I feel that it has caused enough trouble for us all already." Shiki concluded.

Darn that boy for putting him through this. He was pretty sure that Roppi could have gotten away more discretely. This was probably some sort of revenge brought on from the last few months of intense training. Shingen was expecting some type of retaliation from him, but not something quite as nerve-wracking.

"As a matter of fact, I do know why he was in there."

Shinra visibly tensed and Shiki raised his eyebrows expectedly as a silent cue to continue.

Shingen swallowed, "I had Izaya come to the labs this morning for some sensitive information exchange. We met in the vehicle transport area, where we wouldn't be overheard or monitored. Security is less tight in the transport area you see, and he would have been spotted and recognized immediately if he walked in through the front door right? Ha haa..." he laughed a little, and cleared his throat when he received glares all around. "Anyway, we were interrupted and Izaya hid himself in a nearby truck. Unfortunately, it started up and left with him still inside."

The group was silent as they processed the new information. Shiki's eyes remained trained on him. "You're lying"

Shingen sighed and met his gaze unflinchingly. "Yes, I was"

Shinra spluttered at his bluntness, but he paid him no heed. The guards in the room all took a noticeable step closer to the man in question. A silent threat.

He continued to speak, before the situation took a turn for the worst. "I lied for the sake of the sensitive information that involves what happened this morning, and I cannot divulge to you or your men. But I can assure you, that it has nothing to do with Awakusu-kai and the contents of that truck. The boy he had no idea what was in that vehicle or where it was headed. There was no possible way for him to know that beforehand either."

Shiki was quiet and studied the man before him. "So, you are saying that it was a complete coincidence that he entered that truck."

"Yes"

Shiki looked between the two doctors carefully, gauging their body language for any signs of deceit. Finding none, he returned his gaze to the older doctor. "You are completely sure?"

"Yes Shiki-san, and I can guarantee on Izaya's behalf that he did nothing to the cargo"

The yakuza executive nodded and rose from his seat "Alright. I thank you for the information and your time. I will take it into consideration." he turned towards the door, his lackeys followed suit "If any of you two manage to get a hold of Izaya, tell him that I want to have a word with him. You know, for the sake of reassurance."

Shinra rose and saw the group to the door. They made a few more quiet exchanges before the older Kishitani heard the door close. The young doctor returned to the living room shortly after.

Both father and son were silent for a long moment. Both staring at each other uneasily.

Then Shinra spoke, "What was so important that you had to lie to a yakuza executive member's face for?"

Shingen slumped down onto the couch weary and tired from everything that happened that morning. He was physically and emotionally drained. "Maybe I'll tell you one day son. And maybe you can warn me next time, _before_ I walk into the lion's den, hmm?"

* * *

She half expected Izaya to be beaten to a pulp by the time she caught up to Shizuo. But as it was, he was still conscious when she arrived. Which was good, she supposed, since she wanted answers as well.

She separated the two with her shadows before another one of their infamous fights broke out and calmly approached them.

Izaya was staring at her in mute surprise. She felt unnerved by his stare, maybe it was because there was an out of place glint of awe in his eye. Regardless, she was here to question him, she'd re-examine his strange behaviour later.

[_Is it true, the messages from Dollars?_]

He blinked out of his daze as a PDA was suddenly thrust into his face. He read the text and frowned, "I'm not sure what you're talking about"

[_Don't play dumb, you of all people would be the first to know_]

He shook his head, "I honestly don't know what you're talking about"

Shizuo growled and took a menacing step forward. "Why don't I just beat the shit out of you until you remember then?"

A flash of irritation crossed the raven's face briefly, but he remained silent and swallowed nervously. Celty tilted her helmet. He was definitely acting strange today. Did he really not know what was going on?

Perhaps he lost his precious cell phone, his main source of information. And now the so called 'all knowing Orihara Izaya' was running around absolutely clueless. She would have found that idea very amusing, but set it aside for now. Shizuo looked like he was going to follow through on his promise. She quickly pulled up the Dollars message on her phone for Izaya.

He read the message over quietly and a look of understanding settled across his face.

[_Well? Is it true?_] By his expression, she already figured what his answer was.

"I didn't kill anyone...and I didn't steal anything"

"Yeah? And you expect me to believe that?" Shizuo growled as his hand shot forward and lifted him by the cuff of his jacket. Celty raised her hands in surprise, wildly gesturing to not do anything hasty.

Izaya, for his part, did not put up a fight, he didn't even pull out his flickblade. The informant stared at his long time enemy, and surprisingly without a hint of malice. "You don't have to believe me. I'm only telling the truth, because I don't know what else to do at this point."

He hung his head, a gesture of submission that she didn't know Izaya was capable of.

"I'm tired, I'm injured and there is nowhere that is safe for me. Please. Believe me Heiwajima-san."

Shizuo stared at the smaller man incredulously. Slowly, all anger on his face melted away and left only a frown.

'_It seemed that he noticed something was glaringly wrong with Izaya as well_' Celty mused, '_It was enough to quell his anger. Unbelievable_'

"What the hell flea..." he shoved the other man and turned away.

Celty studied curiously Izaya for a moment. He was addressing Shizuo _with respect_. No condescending tone, no cutesy nickname, nor any insulting remarks at his intelligence. She didn't know how to deal with this new, meek, vulnerable Izaya. It seemed wrong to see him in a position where he was all but begging Shizuo for help.

Shizuo seemed to have a similar dilemma. He was muttering curses under his breath, running his fingers through his hair. He's been waiting for a chance to rid the city of Orihara Izaya, and here he was, practically giving him that chance on a silver plate.

With a final loud '_Fucking flea_', Shizuo faced his most hated person once more.

"And then what? Even if I believed you for a second, you expect me to forget all the shit you've put me through before? I oughta beat you up and hand you over to the rest of Dollars myself." he didn't sound nearly as angry anymore, he simply stated his thoughts coolly, yet probingly. As if he was daring Izaya to piss him off.

Izaya seemed to shrink at the words. He's probably given up hope at this point. "That's your choice then. If that's what you're going to do, then I don't think I have the power to stop you."

Celty nervously glanced between the two of them, unsure whether she should get a word in.

"Yeah. It is my choice" Shizuo nodded. He pulled out a box of cigarettes from his pocket, selected one and lit it. He took a deep drag and exhaled slowly.

He glanced back at Izaya and gave him a once over. "Can you walk?"

Izaya for his part looked mildly surprised at his question "Huh? Uh, yeah...I guess."

Shizuo started walking towards the other end of the alley. "Come on then. Shinra can patch you up."

Celty was just as baffled as Izaya was. Not only minutes ago Shizuo was set on ending the raven's life, and now he is planning on taking him to get medical attention?

He was deliberately turned to avoid eye contact. "Tch. You owe me for this louse"

The smaller man fell into step behind him. He smiled a small secretive smile. "Sure. I'll repay you Heiwajima-san."

Celty glanced between the two 'mortal enemies'. She was still trying to process what had happened. She jogged to close the distance between the two men, particularly Izaya. She tapped his shoulder.

[_Are you feeling alright?_]

Izaya blinked and nodded "Yeah, I'm fine, just a little sore"

[_Is that so...you're acting strange either way_]

"Oh, really?" he said quietly, pressing a hand to his left side wincing a little "I didn't realize."

Celty lowered her PDA. Was Izaya acting this way because he's scared?

Izaya was an asshole. He toyed with people like they were pawns. A human life had no value in his eyes.

But she couldn't help feeling bad for him in this situation. He was probably getting jumped at every turn now that the Dollars was after him. He didn't have many allies that would bail him out in situations like these. There was really no one he could turn to. He even honestly thought Shizuo was going to kill him back there, and he didn't even fight it.

She felt slightly nauseated for typing this, and he'd probably revert back to his old obnoxious self after this, but she still wrote it.

[_Don't worry, you're amongst friends now. We have your back._]

His eyes widened after he read her message. He nodded and looked away. Without her enhanced hearing, she wouldn't have been able to hear his next words. Shizuo must having been listening carefully as well, because he turned around when Izaya muttered,

"Thank you"

* * *

**[Author's Note] I kicked my own butt for leaving the story hanging for a month. Rest assured. I didn't even realize that was kind of a cliff-hanger, I would have tried harder to get it out quicker if I realized.**

**On a random note, what do you guys think of the characters? Of Izaya? Of Roppi? Of Shizuo or Shingen?**

**Do you feel I left out something important? Are you worried about a certain character?**

**You can ask/tell me anything in a review. I do value your thoughts and opinions. (Unfortunately I don't do spoilers, you sneaky scamp you :P)**

**Until next time,**

**SNU**


	10. We're All Connecting Parts Of A Puzzle

**Warning: Swearing**

* * *

_Hey, have you been pranked before?_

_Like, any type of prank. It could be anything, from a harmless whoopee cushion or an elaborate scheme set up by all your friends just to scare the living daylights out of you._

_Yes? No?_

_Mostly likely right? Either way, pranks are all in good fun aren't they? One way or another, someone always gets a laugh out of it. Even if it is at someone else's expense._

_Foiling another person's prank is also very fun too, you know. All that hard work and meticulous planning goes up in smoke. It's like pranking the prankster…with the failure of his own prank. Ah, the look of disappointment and annoyance on their face is just rich._

_And it looks like I'm in luck! Because I might be in the position to pull that very feat. Wanna hear about it?_

_Today, a message on Dollars was sent out about the Awakusu-kai searching for Orihara Izaya for a sweet price._

_The only weird part is the message was sent by one of Orihara Izaya's online handle. Isn't that weird?_

_So I paid close attention to the events that unfolded following that message._

_Orihara Izaya was found shortly after, immediately chased and pursued by a bunch of gangs from Dollars. He managed to fight a group of twenty in a brawl, and showed a shocking amount of physical power too._

_Huh? Wait…did that sound off to you too? It does, doesn't it? I agree. Since when has that guy had the balls to fight twenty thugs head on?_

_Just kidding! But seriously, it's not like Izaya to bring himself down to the levels of others and engage in a battle of fists don't you think? It's an unsightly display of brutish human emotion in physical brawls, according to him. It's also too similar to the way Heiwajima Shizuo fights, and everyone knows how he feels about him._

_Ah, and that's the most curious thing. Heiwajima Shizuo is currently helping him. I know right? WHAT A TWIST! He's even taking him to get him patched up!_

_This is just so strange. It's as if Orihara Izaya has been replaced by a completely different person!_

_Huh? That would make sense… But that couldn't be possible could it? Well…actually it is possible, now that I think about it._

_Like if you paid some guy to dress up like you and run around Ikebukuro. Masks, plastic surgery, anything is possible in this day and age. How much do you got to pay a guy to cut up his face and wear your own? Well there was that one girl, Harima Mika I believe, she did it for free, all for the sake of her love. Woah, I hope that's not the case here! That'd be gross. _

_Or perhaps this guy has been impersonating you without permission, and this whole this is a front to smoke him out without getting your own hands dirty. Also very possible, in my opinion._

_I'm just spewing ideas here. Well? Am I close to figure out your prank…_

_Izaya?_

_Hey, you'll tell me right? Aren't we buds? I really want to know! Come on, I'll give you 300 yen!_

_Haha, whether you tell me or not is fine too, I'm just happy for the free entertainment!_

_Your good buddy,_

_Tsukumoya Shinichi_

Izaya scowled at the email. Usually Tsukumoya lurked in his personal chatroom, he rarely made contact with him outside of that. But he sent him an email to get a hold of him directly. It was annoying, because Izaya was specifically avoiding him for the duration of this little affair. He enjoyed keeping that "all-knowing-omnipotent" bastard out of the loop from time to time. He was pretty close to figuring out what was going on, but also he was way off. And Izaya was pleased with that fact.

Yet, here was an email from him practically saying "_Hey there! I don't buy it. I'm on to you~_" that managed to spoil his mood anyway.

That annoying asshole. Izaya completely forgot that he knew his 'Nakura' online handle.

He was almost as annoying as that bigheaded brute.

Izaya bit down on his thumb hard at the thought of that _other_ bastard who was also pissing him of at the moment.

Earlier, he received a message for Kida earlier stating that Shizuo 'saved him' from a large gang of thugs. And now Shizuo, Celty and his clone were moving together. At first Izaya was taken aback at this unexpected twist. Then another emotion, not too far from anger started bubbling up within him.

'_Shizu-chan had one job. And of course he somehow found a way to mess that up too'_

Shizuo never did what Izaya wanted him to do. Izaya expected that if Shizuo caught wind of his presence in Ikebukuro, he would hunt him down and kill him (or at least gravely injure him). Honestly, he couldn't care less if Shizuo was involved or not with this whole ordeal. As long as he didn't get in the way of his fun smoking out Shingen's pet project, and maybe getting him roughed around a bit before capturing him. Serves the doctor right for cloning him without permission.

But, for some inexplicable reason, that idiot decided to help the clone instead of kill it like he's been attempting to do to him for the past 9 years. They've been at each other's throats since day one, and _now_ of all times, he chooses to set his animosity aside.

It didn't make any sense. His double somehow managed to tame the beast, a feat that Izaya tried and failed at countless times in the past.

'_It's as if Orihara Izaya has been replaced…_'

He felt a morsel of burning anger coil up in the pit of his stomach again as Tsukumoya's words echoed in the back of his mind. He was really starting to dislike this double of his. Just the thought of an imposter, taking his place, speaking to people in his behalf, living in his shoes without his permission, it unsettled him.

Because who would know? Who could tell the difference?

That was it, no one would. He kept his humans at arm's length, he always wore masks, and he spoke in different voices. No one had truly _known_ Izaya. It was his ultimate weapon, and his perfect defence.

And now, it was his greatest weakness that will potentially lead to his downfall.

For all anyone knew, this clone was another one of his 'faces'.

On the Dollar's forum, not a single question was raised if the man who was being chased was really Orihara Izaya. He had them all fooled. And worse, he managed to be as unpredictable as Shizuo. If those two end up working together...what would happen to him then?

He'd most likely be hunted down by the two of them (especially after all the grief he put them through).

Izaya scoffed. "Well then, just try it you brutes. I'll just have to cut the two of you down first."

* * *

"Is that your final decision Shiki?" A red haired man in a black suit and coloured shades spoke into his cellphone, leaning against a wall in an empty hallway. He balanced the handle of his cane on his finger and lightly swung it in front of him.

"Yes, stop searching for Orihara. It's getting too much attention from the other factions" Shiki answered.

"Are you sure? How do we know if that informant kid took something or not?"

"I have it on good authority that he did not. But I will speak with him as soon as I get a hold of him, but right now, we are making too much noise. The last thing we need is another group hearing about _that_ thing. I've already talked to the boss about it. He agrees"

"Alright, if that's the final decision then I ain't got a problem with it." Akabayashi replied, "I'll tell the rest of the guys."

"Please do." He ended the call with a click.

Akabayashi expertly swung his cane around in a full circle before gripping it and pushing himself off the wall. He relayed the information to the rest of the Awakusu-kai members via text before sending a word out to his own subordinates to stop looking for the informant kid and return to headquarters. He pocketed his cellphone and whistled as he walked down the rest of the hallway.

He entered the common room to see Aozaki lazing on the couch. He walked over as quietly as possible. He nonchalantly kicked the sleeping man's feet making one of them to fall from its perch on the armrest. Aozaki snapped up from his sleeping position and looked around wildly in alarm. His eyes landed on Akabayshi and he snarled.

"The fuck man?"

"Did you get my text?"

Aozaki glared. He swung his other leg down moodily and straightened up in his seat.

"No, I didn't fucking get your text! I was sleeping moron!" He combed his fingers through his hair, messy from his nap. He was always a bit of a grouch when he woke up. Dealing with Akabayashi only soured his mood further.

"Well, now that you're awake, I'll just tell you directly. The search for Izaya was called off."

That got his attention. "What? Why? Did we find him?"

Akabayashi shook his head "We're letting him off the hook for now"

"What?! Why the hell are we letting that backstabbing rat go?"

"Boss's decision" he replied flatly.

Aozaki clenched his jaw then nodded. "…Alright then"

The 'Blue Demon' was one hundred percent loyal and had the upmost respect for their boss. His word was law to Aozaki, no ifs, ands or buts. He wouldn't even think twice about Orihara Izaya's situation afterwards unless the boss tells him to.

"Shouldn't you call back the men you sent out to go look for the informant kid?" Akabayashi inquired. "They'll be wasting their time out there."

"Lost my phone" he said simply, like it didn't even matter. And it really didn't to him, he was an old school kind of guy, he didn't find value in technology at all. "I lost it a while ago. It's got to be here somewhere."

Akabayashi was the polar opposite from him, he treated his phone like it was his child. The thought of anyone neglecting their cellphone like that was downright offensive. "You oughta take care of your cell, it's important you know."

"Ah shaddup, I don't need that piece of crappy plastic anyway, I'll just get another one if I need it" he growled, getting visibly irritated from talking to him for an extended period of time.

Akabayashi sighed. "How are you going to contact your men then?"

"Huh? Y'say something ya bastard?!"

"Nah, nothing. Forget it."

* * *

"I got a text from Aozaki-dono, he says there are new orders to _get rid_ of Orihara Izaya."

He got funny looks from the rest of the group. "He _texted_ you, Captain? Aozaki-dono did?"

The first man, Yoshiro Ken shrugged "Maybe Akabayashi-dono sent it for him, but this is definitely his number"

Another man nodded "Alright then, I guess… it's kill on sight now."

The men looked at each other uneasily, their particular faction tended to avoid excessive violence when dealing with civilians. Whatever secret Orihara stole, the higher-ups weren't too happy about it, if they were willing to break that rule. Izaya got away with a lot of things with their group in the past. It was common knowledge amongst the members that the superiors favoured him. He was a very useful guy, with even more useful information, whatever he did was overlooked, because he was more valuable than his actions was a threat. But this time, he must've crossed the line.

Ken clapped his hands to get everyone's attention, "Alright, alright. We do this discretely, you hear? Not in public, and we don't involve bystanders. Best case scenario, we manage to take him back to the HQ and the boss can off him there, but if we're left with no other choice, we will end him on the spot. Got it? Good. Let's move out."

They set off to carry out their new orders. One man jogged up to rejoin the group of men from a quick smoke break.

"Hey, Newbie! Hurry up, we're going!" one of them called out.

"Right, coming!" said the man as he picked up his pace, quickly concealing a cellphone into his pocket before any of the other men saw or recognized it.

* * *

When you think of the events that happen within a day, do you wonder how much is fate? How much is planned?

I can't help but to think this when so many little coincidences line up so perfectly and make one huge incident.

Well that's life isn't it?

Everyone has a role in this world. No matter how small or insignificant it may be.

Maybe I should put it into perspective for you. Imagine how today's events would have been if certain things happened differently.

If Ryuugamine Mikaido decided to hang out with his well-endowed female friend today.

If Saburo Togusa didn't fill his van with a full tank this morning.

If Heiwajima Shizuo forgot to charge his phone, or left it on silent for the afternoon.

If Aozaki was more careful about where he left _his_ phone.

If Kishitani Shinra had been writing in his journal like he usually does, instead of letting his thoughts wander and getting no work done.

If chat handle "Rabisan" didn't disclose a certain black-haired man's location during the initial announcement of Orihara Izaya's bounty.

What would have happened do you think?

I'd imagine that if his location wasn't posted immediately, that certain black-haired man would've gone off to look for a place to eat, perhaps a small cheap sushi restaurant with an overly welcoming Russian chef. Maybe he might have managed to put all the expenses on "his tab", seeing that he didn't have any money on himself. And then, maybe since he was out of sight and wasn't discovered right away, there wouldn't have been quite as much of an uproar. That Russian chef may have even offered him shelter after receiving the notification from Dollars, until the commotion died down.

But that didn't happen. He was spotted, and chased. And probably weak from not eating all day.

If Kishitani Shinra had been writing instead of worrying about his father's strange behaviour, by the time Shiki arrived for information, he wouldn't have made the connection between his father's anxiousness, Nebula's truck and Izaya. Maybe if that connection wasn't made, Shiki would have left without running into Shingen himself. And he would still be looking for Izaya, maybe even begin to distrust him a little.

But that didn't happen. Shinra had been thinking about his father before Shiki arrived, which allowed him to conveniently piece together the situation. As a result, Shiki stayed to hear Shingen's side of the story, and was somewhat relieved of the little doubt that was beginning to build up in the back of his mind regarding Izaya's trustworthiness.

If Shizuo's phone was off, he wouldn't have received the messages that described where Izaya was. He would have spent the rest of his day off with his friend the Black Rider. And elsewhere, that man would have been chased and eventually caught.

But that didn't happen. Shizuo received the message, and immediately set out to search for Izaya. He found him, and for some reason, he decided to help him along with the Black Rider.

If Aozaki had been diligent about where he kept his phone, it wouldn't have been stolen by that new recruit, who seems to have an agenda of his own.

But that didn't happen. His phone was stolen, and used to trick his subordinates with a fake order. And they were heading to Izaya's location at this moment with the intent to kill.

If Kadota's group had to stop and fill gas, they would be a little too late to the upcoming 'festivities'. Izaya's group might have already encountered the yakuza group. Whether they fought or fled, it wouldn't matter to Kadota's group, they'd be too late to do anything about it anyway.

But that didn't happen. They're van is headed to Izaya's location, maybe too late to the fight, but definitely on time to lend a hand.

And the same for Ryuugamine Mikaido, if he was with a friend, he may have decided to monitor the situation through his phone.

But that didn't happen, instead, he is heading there himself. Heading to where the Black Rider, Orihara Izaya, Heiwajima Shizuo, and (secretly tailing the group) Masomi Kida were.

To think, if any of these things were altered, this story would have taken a completely different route, you see. But as it is now, everything has happened the way it happened.

The set is ready, the actors are in place, and the camera is rolling.

I'm excited for how this story unfolds from here, and I hope the climactic battle does nothing but satisfy.

And one thing is for sure, there will be blood.

I've got my popcorn all nice and heated.

Lights, camera, ACTION!

_-Excerpt from Tsukumoya Shinichi's Unpublished Observational Journal_

* * *

For the most part of the walk, the trio was silent. Roppi would steal glances at the other two, but mostly kept to himself. Celty walked her motorbike while checking and posting on the Dollar website with one hand.

It seems that after hearing about how 'Izaya' defeated a gang of eleven guys single-handedly, several others were dissuaded from chasing him. After discovering Heiwajima Shizuo had teamed up with him as well, the majority of the people gave up altogether. But the idea that Shizuo was _helping_ Izaya caused another online uproar (one that wouldn't cause as much problems as the first). This one consisted of one of skepticism, disbelief, fear for the fate of the city, and a few choruses of "YES! FINALLY!"

All in all, the likelihood of any other groups engaging with them at this point was slim.

As for Shizuo, he was frowning the whole time. He was deep in thought, or maybe he was shutting himself inside his head so he could mentally distance himself from the fact that he was walking next to his sworn enemy.

"Why'd you decide to help me?"

The whole group, even the speaker himself, flinched at the sudden verbal query. Roppi snapped his mouth closed. He didn't intend to voice his question out loud. He was just asking for trouble now.

"What? You got a problem?" Shizuo growled.

"Er..no, I mean, I don't you hate- well, me?" he asked "I just don't understand why you would you go through all this trouble to help me"

"I thought I told you not to get the wrong idea" Shizuo snapped "Clean out your ears and listen carefully flea. This is a _favour_. After Shinra fixes you up, I fully expect you to get your scrawny ass out of Ikebukuro in return, got it? I'll take that payback by force if I have to."

Roppi still looked confused "That doesn't answer my question...why would you go through all that trouble when you could just beat me up?"

Shizuo stopped walking and pinned a hard glare at the shorter boy. The boy in question shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, but stood his ground.

Celty sighed. This would not end well. She readied herself to jump in to stop the inevitable fight at any time.

"You're freakin' annoying when you talk, did I ever mention that?" said the ever irritated debt collector.

Roppi tugged his jacket closer to himself, "I'm just trying to make sense of all of this" he muttered.

Shizuo's eyes flickered to a bruise on his cheek. "I don't beat on injured people"

"…Some people think it's smarter to kick their opponents why they are down."

"I'm not like that" he said sternly, "I keep telling you, I hate violence. If guys like you didn't piss me off all the time…" he trailed off as he continued walking.

Roppi lips quirked in amusement. It was funny to hear that the man who rips fences from the ground and uses it to bowl over thugs, would hate violence.

People were strange, they're logic was hard to follow, and very random at times. His human psychology textbook didn't do the human mind justice.

"Either way, thank you for the help. I'd imagine it's not easy to help out a guy who pisses you off."

Shizuo glanced at him from the corner of his eye, and shrugged, "It's what a decent human would do."

"A decent human?" Roppi questioned disbelievingly. He sincerely doubted that such thing existed.

Shizuo interpreted his sarcasm a different way. "What? You think a monster like me couldn't do something like that?"

"A monster like you..." Roppi chuckled, to which Shizuo bristled angrily, "No, monster or not…I think you are probably the only decent person I've met today. And you too." Roppi called out over his shoulder, addressing Celty. Who jerked in surprise and nodded sheepishly for getting caught eavesdropping.

Shizuo's anger melted away and he was left with confusion again. It was hard to keep up with this unexpectedly polite version of the flea. He was too use to the insults the taunts and the overall annoyance that Izaya always had going on. This friendliness was an _act_. It must be. He would have called him out on his bullshit, but he couldn't detect anything other than sincerity in Izaya's voice. It was unsettling. Though he had been duped countless times in the past, Shizuo wouldn't drop his guard around him so easily.

As they reached a main road, Celty scan the road for oncoming traffic, there were only a few cars driving at this hour. She folded her arms in deliberation. She nodded as she came to a conclusion before she flipped out her PDA.

[_The walk is too far to our place, especially since we're traveling with one injured person. How about we take my bike the rest of the way?_]

Roppi tilted his head slightly and surveyed the bike in consideration. "Will we all fit?"

Celty nodded. [_Shooter can make a sidecar for himself_]

"Who-?"

"Orihara Izaya" a voice called out, cutting through their conversation.

The group paused and they found themselves facing a group of twenty sharply dressed men. They looked very out of place amongst the rest of the people in the streets. Some bystanders also noticed the men's appearance and immediately fled.

"We have some business with you" the man, Ken, continued as he pulled out a gun. "If you would come with us, that would be great. We sort of have a rule to not execute in public."

* * *

**[Author's Note] Halfway through the last scene I was like…are they going to walk all the way there? Celty could drive them for god's sake! **

**Hello again, it's been a while. What happened to weekly updates you ask? School happened. Che -_-**

**Well, here comes the big fight and final fight scene of this arc. Shizuo/Roppi/Celty versus the Yakuza. Or at least a portion of them that didn't know the search was called off. I had to stop the confrontation scene here because the chapter would have been waaaay to long if included the fight.**

**There are a few new characters introduced in this chapter, three from the novels (Tsukumoya, Aozaki, and Akabashi) and one original character (Yoshiro Ken) that has no real significant value to the story (as far as I've planned at least). **

**Ken is just a name I gave the second in command of Aozaki's subordinates. I didn't want to keep calling people subordinate one and two, so I gave him a name. No significance to the story, but I'll give him a little characterization right here for the lulz. He's got black hair, wears glasses, and he's **_**really**_** good with guns. He's a quick thinker and takes charge whenever the group needs direction. He is 100% loyal to Aozaki and the boss.**

**Akabayashi and Aozaki are from the Awakusu-kai. They are rivals and there are polar opposites from each other. They are known as the Red Demon and Blue Demon respectively. Tsukumoya's identity is a mystery, he states in the novel that 'he would tell us who he is, but it would shock us too much'. He is also an informant like Izaya, who hates his guts. All three of these guys have DRRR! Wiki pages, if you haven't heard of them, you can read up on them if you like.**

**I didn't get to edit as thoroughly as I wanted to, but if you have any feedback or caught any errors, let me know by dropping a review.**

**Until next time,**

**SNU**


	11. Raising Suspicions

**Warning: Excessive swearing and violence.**

* * *

Roppi stared at the gun listlessly, he made no move to follow the man's order. Shizuo and Celty stepped in front of him, shielding him from the group.

The man sighed, "We also have a rule not to not to involve unrelated civilians in our affairs. I'm going to have to ask you to move. This doesn't concern you."

"Like hell it doesn't concern us. We're standing right here aren't we?" Shizuo bit back.

Roppi was grateful that the two of them would stand up for his sake, even though they thought they were protecting someone else. They didn't know who or what he actually was. Regardless of how touching it felt, but he refused to sit by idly like a damsel in distress. This was his problem to deal with too, he wouldn't burden them to take on his troubles for him. He'd fight with them.

Roppi stepped up to stand next to his newfound allies.

"Get back flea" Shizuo ordered. "You'll get in the way"

"I'm going to help you."

Shizuo looked at him as if he grew another head, "Why…would I need help from a weakling like you?" he said, looking every bit offended.

"I'm twice as strong as you think I am"

"...that's still pretty weak"

It was Roppi's turn to look a little insulted. "Just how weak do you think I am?"

Shizuo actually stopped to think. "Like, a rodent? No, I'd say a bug's level."

Roppi's eyebrow twitched. He tried not to take that personally. After all, it was Orihara Izaya that Shizuo thought he was talking to. And he was not Orihara Izaya.

"Well I'm not going to run and hide whether you like it or not. I'm helping no matter what you say" Roppi stated firmly, and he turned to address the mob "I don't know what you think I stole, but you can search me if you want. I took nothing"

Two shots rang out, startling everyone present. Roppi barely registered the sound before a black shadow sprung up from his feet to shield him. Two bullet pellets hit the floor, if it wasn't for Celty's shadows, those bullets would have been imbedded in his chest right now.

"We ain't here to talk punk!" yelled the youngest looking man in the group, the gun he used to fire still poised to shoot.

"Newbie! What the fuck are you doing?" snarled Ken. The few pedestrians that were in the area screamed and took off in various directions, running for cover.

But there was an ominous sound of bending and creaking metal that overpowered the sounds of frenzied panic.

Shizuo yanked a nearby guardrail off the ground and he brandished his new weapon in the air.

"Oy. That was dangerous" he said in an eerily calm voice for a man of his temperament. "Shooting off your gun in the middle of a street like that. You think you're some hotshot, huh? You say you don't like involving innocent people? What would you have done if that hit someone, _huh_? What if you missed and hit a kid? HUH?! BASTARD!"

Ken tensed, "Ah, shit"

Shizuo swung the guard rail at the group, and they all scattered. The big chunk of metal crashed into the ground, the sheer force of the impact made the ground shutter, knocking some of the closer yakuza members off balance.

Before any of them could get up or reach for their guns to shoot the enraged blond, black tendrils snaked around their legs and arms. Their eyes widened in shock as they struggled against the ghostly black restraints. Celty advanced on them, her shadows materialized into an imposing shape of a large black scythe. She swung her weapon down, and struck the men on the ground before they could move.

Not that they could have, even without the restraints, their fear had them too paralyzed to react.

The men slumped to the ground, unconscious. Celty had struck them with the dull side of her blade, she was never a big fan of killing her opponents after all.

Besides, it would stir up big trouble for the three of them if any members of the Awakusu-kai were killed.

One member emerged from behind a nearby post and reached for his gun at her after witnessing her stunt. He quietly approached her from behind, and clicked the safety off and aimed it right at her back. She didn't notice him until he cursed when a scalpel seemingly came flying out of nowhere and sliced the side of his cheek. Celty quickly swung her scythe and knocked him out before he could recover his focus.

She turned and nodded a silent thanks to Roppi who threw the projectile at her attacker. He returned the nod, and continued to punch the guy he had by the scruff of his shirt.

Celty paused and took in the number of out-cold men at his feet. There were quite a few of them. She never thought he had it in him, and with his injuries too.

As if her thoughts set off an imaginary signal, Roppi winced and released the unconscious man and clutched his side. He stumbled over and fell to his knees. Celty appeared to his side in an instant.

[_Are you alright Izaya?_]

Roppi nodded, "Yeah, I'm just tired. I'll be fine"

Celty looked around, Shizuo was keeping most of the group busy, the rest of them were taking cover, probably waiting for an opening. She stood in front of Roppi, shielding him from their sight.

[_Don't push yourself. You've helped enough. Shizuo and I can handle it from here._]

Roppi looked like he wanted to argue, but he knew she was right. He didn't have any more energy left, and his body hurt all over. He sighed and nodded. He'd stay down, for now.

Celty nodded and moved ahead to meet the yakuza members who noticed his vulnerable state and charged.

* * *

On the other side of the fight Yoshiro Ken was having hell.

Heiwajima Shizuo was way too strong for any of them to handle. It was only playing smart and tactical retreats at opportune timing that kept them in the fight for this long.

Bullets didn't work. He was actually quick on his feet and would dodge a handful of them. But, those few that managed to land a hit hardly fazed him. His arms and thigh was bleeding steadily, yet he continued to swing the sign in his hands and move with no visible discomfort. Several men were hesitant to shoot him; the bullet would catch his attention, and when you are going toe to toe with a beast, the last thing you want is for it to focus on you.

His men were getting mauled over, shots were being fired, and the whole city probably knew about this fight by now.

So much for a quiet operation.

"God damn it. The boss is going to have my head for this. If I die, I swear I'm going to haunt the shit out of that dumbass new guy." Ken grumbled as he peaked out from behind the parked car he was using for cover. He ducked back when a stop sign flew into the windshield.

Another subordinate sitting beside him winced. "It's not really his fault Captain, rookies make mistakes. I admit this was one hellava mistake, but we're all to blame. Nobody told him that we were bringing the kid back to HQ and finishing him there. I guess he got too into it, and got carried away. You know how new guys are."

"Yeah, well…" Ken paused. Something in that sentence didn't sound right. "…nobody told him…?"

"Yeah, you know. Since he's new and all, we sorta thought we should just take the heat off and let him take the backseat for his first assignment. The newbie hasn't even seen a kill yet, I don't think. Even Akabayashi-dono didn't have a kill as his first job, or did he? I don't remember…"

Ken smacked his subordinate upside his head, "Focus Tamaki, Newbie was not there when we got the order. Nobody _told_ him about it either. Then please tell me how did he know that we're supposed to kill the informant kid?"

The subordinate dubbed Tamaki looked puzzled "L-Lucky guess?" he threw his arms up when Ken growled. "I don't know, don't hit me again!"

Ken shook his head and nudged his glasses back up his nose. "I thought something was weird with that text. Shit, I should have double checked earlier." He took out his phone and dialed Akabayashi's number.

"Hello?"

"Akabayashi-dono, it's Yoshiro Ken, Aozaki-dono's subordinate."

"Yeah, I know. Sup, Ken-chan?"

"Sir…I wanted to ask, about Orihara Izaya, did we get any new orders regarding his case?"

"Ah yeah, a while ago, boss said to leave him. We don't need him for now. Sorry I didn't text you the update, I just found out that Aozaki lost his cellphone"

Ken let out a harsh breath, "Thank you Akabayashi-dono. I'll be sure to pass on the message."

"Oi, what's happening?" Akabayashi asked in a concerned tone. "Is everything alright? I hear gunshots."

"Yes sir, we seem to have a rat problem however, I'm about to deal with it. Please excuse me" Ken apologized before he hung up.

He addressed Tamaki as he dialed Aozaki's number. "What do you know about the new guy?" He peeked over the edge of the car again and caught a glimpse of the man in question. He was one of the few who were out in the open and engaging the trio directly. He applauded the bastard's gull if nothing else.

"Huh? Oh uh, his name is Satoshi something, he's been with us for two months now. That's why he only gets grunt work, like looking for the Orihara kid. It was by chance he was with us when we got kill order."

'_By chance huh?_' Ken pressed the phone against his ear and listen to the dial tone as it connected his call. His eyes never left the Newbie's form. For a split second he saw what he was looking for. Satoshi had a momentary break in concentration, he's eyes darted to his right-side pants pocket, and his hand brushed over the bulging shape of the cellphone inside. It was definitely ringing.

"Mother f-" Ken angrily snapped his own cellphone closed. "We're stopping this fight. Round up whoever you can."

"Sir what-?" Tamaki looked baffled at how angry the usually calm Captain was at the moment.

"We're capturing that Satoshi bastard. I have a few questions for him."

* * *

A young blond watching the chaos just around the corner let out a low whistle,

"Man, that escalated fast" he commented as he typed in another text to report to Izaya. It was tedious and annoying to text him every little thing, but he had to do it. He had half the mind to leave out large chunks of information though. He was starting to feel a little bolder as he became more convinced that the man he was currently stalking was _not_ his boss.

He fought differently and he moved differently. Plus, the fact that he didn't ditch the Black Rider and Shizuo during the fight and let them deal with the ruckus was a big tip off. Izaya tended to bolt whenever any situation got too messy.

Whoever was fighting out there fought like an animal. He pummeled anyone he got his hands on with no sense of restraint. As if he didn't care whether his opponent lived or died. Yet, he didn't look like an experienced fighter by any means. His movements weren't fluid, nor did they seem to have any method. It looked as if his determination to beat the crap out of everyone was what got him through the fight so far.

"Yeah, definitely not that Izaya-bastard's style"

He was already down, injured probably, judging by the way he was clutching his side. But he managed to take an impressive amount of people down already.

The Black Rider stayed by his side for a while before he was forced to intercept another pair of yakuza charging at them.

From behind, Kida heard the sound of a speeding vehicle rushing towards him.

He turned around quickly in time to see a familiar van pull up beside him with a loud screeching halt. The side door swung open with flourish.

"Safe! Made it in time!" shouted Walker.

Kadota raised his hand in greeting, "Yo, Kida, where's the party?"

Kida raised his finger to his lips shushing the group, and looked around the corner hoping the commotion didn't grab any unwanted attention.

Luckily, everyone continued to fight without giving them a second glance, either ignoring the distraction or too overwhelmed to care.

But the one person who wasn't fighting did notice the newcomers. Izaya was looking directly at them. Kida locked eyes with him for a brief moment.

Then, nothing. No silent instruction, no smirk, there wasn't even any acknowledgment that he'd seen them. He ignored the group without a word and continued to watch the fight.

His suspicions kept growing the more he watched that guy, he was more confident than not that the man wasn't Izaya. The revelation didn't quell he questions, it only brought more to the surface.

'_Why does Izaya want me to follow him? What's the relationship between these two?'_

While he was musing, Kadota quietly got out of the van and crouched next to him. "Fill me in" he said.

Kida returned his attention back to the here and now, he shouldn't be so distracted at a time like this. There was plenty of time to figure this whole situation out later.

"Shizuo-san's been taking care of most of them, the Black Rider is taking care of anyone who tries to get by him, and Izaya is down for the count now. But he shockingly took care of a lot of guys before you got here." He gestured to the unconscious men laying nearby the informant.

"I see. So that really was him who took on eleven guys by himself?"

"Seems like it…"

"What about your friend over there?"

"Huh?"

"Your friend, the guy with the air conditioner name, Ryuugamine, I think…" Kadota clarified as he pointed to a spot over Izaya's shoulder across the street. Mikado was crouching behind a post observing the fight. Kida didn't even notice him until Kadota pointed him out.

"_Shit_!" Kida pressed himself against the wall, hoping he wasn't seen. '_Why is he here?_'

He wasn't ready to face him yet. Far from it.

He quickly dashed into the van, "I'm sorry, but can I hide in here for a bit?"

Erika grinned at him knowingly, cocking her head towards Mikado's hiding spot, "Trouble in paradise?"

Kida grinned back easily, "Ah yes, my good lady, my good friend, Moe-kado, has fallen for my smashing good looks, so I must hide from him, for my heart is taken by another!"

Erika snickered excitedly, "Knew it."

"What's happening now?" Togusa muttered as he watched the fight, drawing everyone's attention back outside.

A few of the yakuza were beginning to draw back and regroup. Their captain had his gun out, and was surprisingly pointing it at one of his own men. He was pointing it at the man who fired the first shot earlier.

"That's enough," he called out. "Stop fighting, _now_."

The rest of the yakuza paused. They exchanged surprised glances, but obediently lowered their weapons. The Black Rider also ceased fighting, and attentively watched the group.

Heiwajima Shizuo, who was engaging the man held at gunpoint, also stopped and lowered the stop sign in his hand.

"What's this now?"

The leader nudged his glasses back to the bridge of his nose with one hand as his gun trained on his subordinate with the other hand, "There seems to be a little misunderstanding, Heiwajima-san. We are no longer pursuing Mister Orihara, nor do we want to cause him harm. We are withdrawing from this fight, peacefully."

"H-Hey now C-Captain…why you pointin' that at me?"

"Shut it Satoshi. I figured your little scheme out. I'll deal with you later"

Satoshi face paled and he snapped his mouth shut.

"I'm not passive enough to let you bastards start a fight and walk away like it was nothing. Take some responsibility for the trouble you caused" Shizuo seethed, gripping the sign in hand tightly.

He snapped his head to the side when he felt a weight on his shoulder. Celty's hand was there stopping him from arguing further. She shook her head.

[_Let's stop fighting. We need to get Izaya some help, remember_?]

Shizuo's ire slowly evaporated, he acknowledged that they _did_ have more important things to do than stir up even more trouble. Over Celty's shoulder he could see the flea on the ground, looking worse for wear.

…he could let the bastards slide for now.

"Che. Alright." Shizuo nodded, and called out to the remaining thugs. "You all have thirty seconds to get out of my sight before I change my mind."

The leader nodded. "Understood. Thank you very much Heiwajima-san."

With a simple gesture, he signalled the rest of the men to surround the troublemaking man named Satoshi.

Shizuo and Celty both nodded in return. They both turned at headed to Izaya sitting on the ground and helped him stand. He seemed very embarrassed for not being able to lift himself up. He mumbled a thanks.

At that moment nobody seemed to notice that Satoshi still had his gun out. Teeth clenched, body shaking, eyes wide, he was going to do something foolish.

Kida's eyes widened as he shoved the other men out of the way, and yanked himself free. But what made his heart truly lurch was the sight of Mikado jumping out of his hiding spot.

He yelled out a warning to the trio.

Izaya's eye met Mikado's for a brief moment and followed his gaze to Satoshi who was now pointing his gun at them.

The raven quickly shoved his two allies out of the way as two shots rang out.

* * *

Tsukumoya: BANG! BANG! Hahahahaha! Woah! Right in the chest!

* * *

Sender: Rabisan

Message: They shot him!

Sender: Gaki:

Message: Shot who?

Sender: Rabisan

Message: Izaya!

Sender: Akie

Message: Are you serious?

Sender: Warden

Message: Damn Yakusa, you scary.

Sender: Sakura no Hana

Message: Where did this happen?

* * *

Kida Masaomi: [_4:17 pm, near Kumanochou junction. Orihara Izaya has been shot in twice in the chest._]

* * *

The world seemed to slow down. He saw everything happening in front of him in slow-motion. But he was too late to react. Why couldn't he move? It was like the shock created a buffer between his thoughts and actions.

As soon as the flea shoved him out of the way he heard two shots fired from behind. Izaya's body jerked back from the impact of the bullets. Shizuo felt some specks of blood splatter on the side of his face.

He was vaguely aware that Izaya pushed him out of the way of the bullets. He saved him. Izaya _saved_ him…

His movements finally caught up with his thoughts and he caught Izaya before he hit the ground. His face was contorted in pain as he cried out.

Behind him, the culprit was tackled by his allies. Shizuo was all too ready to join them, but right now…

He returned his attention to the bleeding informant in his arms and growled "Why did you do that?"

Roppi shrugged weakly, "I guess I didn't want you to get hurt."

"Are you stupid or something? Those bullets aren't enough to hurt me, you're the only one here in danger of getting hurt you, idiot!"

Roppi cracked a small smile. "Oh...right…guh.." Roppi's body lurched as he coughed up a mouthful of blood. "…I-I guess I didn't want you guys to get hurt for my sake."

Shizuo closed his eyes, "Shut up. You look pitiful, talking like that."

Celty was kneeling next to him, and wrote a quick message.

[_I'll text Shinra. Apply pressure to his wounds, to stop the bleeding. We'll take him to get some help._]

"-ou don't have to- ngh, i-it's o-okay" he gasped out. The wound was bleeding sluggishly. Shizuo ignored him and pressed his hand against it.

Roppi winced. "Ow, careful. I think I have a broken rib too."

"Shut up already, I'm trying."

Despite the pain he was in, Roppi managed to smile, "You really are a nice guy aren't you. I knew it."

Shizuo honestly didn't understand why he was trying to help him. The flea didn't even understand the concept of _shutting up_. Shizuo ignored him and didn't respond to his blood-loss induced ramblings. He was barely making sense, and it irritated him seeing him like this. Yes, ignoring him was the best option.

"I'm just happy, I got to meet you"

But he couldn't ignore that. Shizuo stared dumbly at him, "Wha?"

"It's nice to k-know I'm not alone."

Shizuo sighed, "Izaya, I will knock you unconscious if I have to" he said, with a lot less anger behind the words than he intended. "I know this might be hard, but be quiet. You can talk all you want after we get you to Shinra's, got it?"

Roppi solemnly nodded. His vision was blurred and fading. He felt cold and his feet were starting to feel numb.

It wasn't a foreign sensation to him.

Sounds of people shouting and footsteps rushing sounded muffled and distant.

Heiwajima's worried face and his voice calling out Izaya's name was the last image he remembered before he fell into the depth of unconsciousness.

* * *

**[Author's Note] Wow. I'm beyond embarrassed. Missed Christmas, New Years, Shizuo's BIRTHDAY, and Valentine's Day. Believe me when I say I was not loafting on this chapter, I have not had time for myself in a loooong time, and writing is the first thing I do when I get the chance. I'm completely bummed out when I don't get to write. I think I managed to get a good system going, and now more frequent updates. Hopefully work/school/etc will be nice and give me some breathing room. **

**So here is Chapter 11, the Shizuo/Celty/Roppi vs. Yakuza fight scene. I feel like fight scenes shouldn't last for more than a chapter, but I hope that it wasn't too rushed through either.**

**Now, everyone has shown up. Kida, Dota-chin's group, and surprise Mikado! What is he doing there? Teeny tiny role, but important. More on that next chapter.**

**I just hope the last scene didn't end up too corny. After re-reading it several times I felt the need to pick the kernels out of my teeth. That's what happens when read something you write yourself I guess. When you're reading it, you're not reading it to enjoy, your evaluating it and looking for mistakes.**

**Which is why I turn to the readers for constructive criticism. Please review and let me know what you think, all input is valuable to me! As usual, any spelling/grammar, contextual or continuity errors you find are worth 10 points each, so let me know if you find any :P**

**Until next time, which is hopefully sooner than later,**

**SNU**


	12. What Doesn't Kill You

**Warning: Swearing, and for those who are queasy, there are mentions of blood.**

* * *

_This is my fault_

That was all Mikado could think when he heard Heiwajima Shizuo yelling at an unresponsive Orihara Izaya to wake up.

_This is my responsibility._

A man was wounded, and Dollars was the weapon.

The second he saw the man with the gun struggle to get free, he knew someone was going to get hurt. The look on his face was a mixture between desperation and determination. Not a good combination for a man holding a firearm.

He called out a warning, but it didn't help much. The man fired his weapon, and got his intended target.

Mikado felt sick with dread. '_This wasn't supposed to happen_'

At first, the initial announcement of the yakuza's search for Izaya set a spark off within him.

Anticipation, thrill, _excitement_.

The dreary day-to-day routine was broken again, and now, for the first time since the gang war, something was getting his blood boiling with adrenaline again.

From what he heard, Izaya was doing some incredible things by himself; standing up to gangs (and _winning_), and showing off immense strength that Mikado didn't know he had.

And even better – Two of the renowned Ikebukuro legends, the Black Rider and the Beast of Ikebukuro teamed up with him against all likelihood.

He tracked the three of them using the information on the forum, and ran to their location to see the battle firsthand. He came expecting to see something life changing.

But he wasn't expecting this.

He never wanted Izaya to get hurt.

Through the action and excitement, Mikado didn't realize it was that much of a dangerous situation that someone could get killed.

But he knew. He knew what he had done, what he had created, the consequences, the results, and when it came down to it, who was truly responsible for what happened today.

He was the founder of Dollars, so essentially, this incident was under his jurisdiction. But what did that mean? There were no rules in Dollars. Even as the leader, he had no authority over any of his people. They were all out of his influence and they were free to do whatever they wanted.

He supposed this was what Dr. Frankenstein felt; he created a monster that he couldn't control. And it was a fearsome creation without a doubt. . A large, anonymous group, invisible, untraceable, uncontainable. That was Dollars.

The dread he felt earlier was morphing into something else.

'_This feeling…it feels…I feel…'_

His cheeks were hurting for some reason. Confused, Mikado lifted his hands to feel the sides of his face, and faltered.

'_W-why am I smiling at a time like this?'_

* * *

Shizuo felt cold fear spreading in his chest when he felt the raven go limp in his arms.

"Izaya? Izaya! Hey!" he shook the smaller man lightly; there was no reaction, only his head bobbed up and down carelessly to his movements.

"Don't you fucking faint on me bastard!"

Celty panicked as Shizuo rough handled the wounded informant, but before she could stop him, another familiar voice beat her to it.

"Shizuo!"

The blond looked up to see Kadota running towards them.

"Kadota…"

He knelt down next to them and gave Izaya a quick once over, taking in all the damage he's taken without grimacing once, "Is he…?"

Shizuo didn't answer, he returned his gaze to Roppi's pale face, unwilling to confirm it himself.

Without wasting a second, Kadota placed two fingers at the junction of the raven's jaw and neck.

"Come on Izaya…Stay with us" he muttered.

He stayed silent as he tried to find a hint of a pulse beating beneath the skin.

After a moment that seem to stretch longer than it should have, he perked up suddenly, "He's alive. We can still get him to help."

Celty physically slumped in relief. Shizuo released a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"We need to get him to Shinra's" Shizuo said as he stood up, carefully lifting Roppi as he stood.

"Right. Come on, quickly, follow me. We can take him in the van"

They swiftly made their way to the van parked a couple of feet away from them, Celty went off in the other direction to retrieve her own bike.

Yumasaki swung open the side door as they approached.

"Place him down here" he said as he gestured to the carpeted floor of the vehicle. Kida slid over to make room as he slid his jacket off his shoulders. Shizuo gently placed him down, and Kida used his jacket to press on his wounds to stop the bleeding.

Togusa made a choked cry from the front seat as the bloodied man's clothes made contact with his pristine carpet.

Kadota shot him a look as he got into the passenger side seat. "I'll clean it up for you later."

The brunette still looked indignant, but didn't voice his discomfort.

"What's more important, Izaya's life or your van's interior?"

The driver tilted his head from side to side, as if weighing the two choices in his mind.

"_Togusa_…"

The brunette clicked his tongue in irritation, "Che, yeah, yeah. I know. I was only kidding. All I'm saying is…he better be fucking grateful…"

Celty drove up next to the van with her motorbike, she held up her PDA for Shizuo to read.

[_Shizuo, you need to come with me._]

No way in hell. "I'm going with them. There's enough space" he argued stubbornly.

[_That may be, but it's best not to cramp the car transporting an injured person. It's better to come with me._]

Shizuo fell silent. He didn't want to let the flea out of his sight. At the same time, he didn't want to cause any unnecessary discomfort.

[_We'll be leading the way, don't worry. We'll be next to the van the whole time._]

Arguing was wasting time. He reluctantly agreed and mounted the bike. Celty passed him a helmet conjured by her shadows, and revved her engine. Shooter neighed loudly in response and drove off, leading the way for Kadota and the others.

In the van, Kida focused on tending to the man who resembled his boss. He didn't even mind getting his jacket dirty in the process, he didn't like it anyway. All he wanted was answers.

Plus, he needed to distract himself with the injured man in front of him, so that he didn't give into temptation and look out the window to find his childhood friend, who was still on the street somewhere.

He wanted to see him. Make sure he wasn't hurt from the commotion earlier. But he couldn't…he still wasn't ready to face him yet, or let himself be seen either.

And the van sped away from the scene, before he could change his mind and try to catch a glimpse of Mikado again.

* * *

Roppi was swimming somewhere between the state of conscious and unconsciousness. He could hear what was going on around him, but not understand exactly what they were saying.

"-ow is he..?"

"…unno…sti…"

"…eathing …"

Roppi groaned. In hopes to make the people stop talking. Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect. Now that he was more awake, they were a lot more audible.

"Look he's waking up!"

"Yay! Iza-Iza has been revived!"

Roppi was in the wrong mood to deal with any more people right now.

"That's good. Try to keep him conscious until we get there."

"Roger that Dota-chin!"

His chest _hurt_. And something was pressing down on it, irritating his injured rib. He opened his eyes to see a blond kid pushing a bloodstained cloth against his wounds.

"Get…off" he rasped.

Kida arched an eyebrow upwards.

"Cool it. I'm just stopping the bleeding. Or do you want to bleed all over the carpet?"

The driver started muttering curses under his breath.

"You're hurting…more than you're…helping kid" he bit back with much difficulty.

Kida smirked back at him, with some strange spark in his eye, "Deal with it."

Roppi would have shoved him off at this point, but as it was, he was having more difficulty breathing and staying awake. He wouldn't be able to move anytime soon, let alone push someone. So he simply didn't reply and pointedly ignored the irritating boy in favour of focusing on the van's ceiling.

Knowing that there was no further argument to be expected from the injured man, he let his smirk widen slightly and dropped his voice down to a whisper so only Roppi could hear, "So, who are you?"

Roppi's eyes flicked back to meet Kida's. He assumed this kid knew Izaya somehow, which was why he was helping him.

Apparently not.

He saw no reason to tell the boy who he really was, so he might as well carry on the charade he unwillingly started.

"Orihara Izaya"

Kida scoffed quietly, "Yeah right. No seriously, who are you?"

Roppi blinked. Amongst the many people he has encountered today, this kid was the first person who could tell him apart from his look-alike. He re-evaluated his initial opinion of the boy.

"What gave me away?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"Well for one, you're a lot more grouchy" he laughed, "And second, you think Izaya would recognize his own _assistant_. Izaya would've said something like, _Oh Kida-kun! How could you not recognize your own boss?_ Or something else annoying like that…"

Roppi smirked, "Everyone seem to find him annoying. Should I be worried about my safety?" He weakly gestured to the wounds on his chest.

"Maybe a little" Kida chuckled, "I'm Masomi Kida by the way, and as I said before, I work for Orihara Izaya. Or 'you' if you still insist on pretending you're him. I don't know why you're trying to impersonate that guy, but here is a heads up; 'you' know all the people in this car. Behind me is Yumasaki-san and Karisawa-san, Togusa-san is the driver, and beside him is 'your' high school friend who you call Dota-chin" he explained subtly pointing out each person, "I won't blame you if you don't remember all that right now, but just don't go addressing them like strangers, like you did to me. They'll know something is up. Or you can pretend you got amnesia or something, that'd be funny-"

"Hey now, it's rude to whisper when there are other people around!" Erika said, peering over Kida's shoulder.

"How are you feeling Izaya-san?" Walker asked also appearing over the seat in the back beside Erica.

"Ah…yeah, I'll be fine. I just…wasn't expecting to get shot today. Aren't guns banned in Japan?" Roppi grumbled.

Kida face palmed. Walker and Erica gave him a strange look.

"But those were yakuza weren't they?"

"Yeah, I thought so for sure… you didn't recognize them Izayan?"

Kida cleared his throat. "Of _course_ guns are banned in Japan, and yes Yumasaki-san, those were yakuza. Naturally the yakuza don't follow the law, obviously they would have guns" Kida said in a deliberately slow tone, as if he was talking to a child, "But you knew that right, _Izaya_?"

Roppi knew he potentially gave himself away. Thinking quickly, and using what little information Kida mentioned earlier and he responded as best as he could.

"…Haha, Kida-kun! You know I'm joking" he forcefully chuckled hoping his mental impression of Izaya was accurate, it was only based off what he heard from Shingen. He also used Kida's impersonation of Izaya from earlier as a reference. It seemed to go well; the confusion left the duo's faces and was replaced by humour.

But unfortunately, Roppi's laughing didn't settle with his injuries. Wet coughs racked his body, he brought up his hand to muffle them. When he pulled it away it was speckled with blood.

"Izaya-san!"

Kadota turned to face the occupants at the back "Oy, you three, I said keep him awake, not bother him. You're getting him worked up. Stop it."

"Heh, you're a godsend, Dota-chin" Roppi wheezed. His vision was swimming again, he tried to relax and focused on keeping his breathing even.

Erika and Walker both apologized profusely and obediently stayed quiet. Kida however looked at Roppi with newfound respect.

He dropped his voice to a whisper again, "Not bad. Not bad at all. You nearly fooled me. You're a quick learner, aren't you?"

The corner of Roppi's lip quirked upwards briefly. "I get…that a lot…"

That was all he managed to say before he passed out again.

* * *

[_Izaya has been shot. We're bringing him over now._]

Not the lovey dovey text he was expecting from Celty, but equally as important.

"Father, Izaya is on his way here. He's been shot."

The older man inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. He let his face fall into his hands, and remained silent for a while.

Shinra was troubled by his behaviour. He didn't think the news would affect him this much. His father was the type of person to get excited when someone got hurt, just because he had a chance to operate on them. That was his idea of fun.

Apparently he's gotten closer to Izaya without his knowledge to the point that the news of his injury was more troubling than exciting.

As if he noticed his son's uneasiness, Shingen suddenly sprang up with exuberance only shown by the people who were half his age. He clapped his hands together "Right then! Let's prep the examination room for surgery shall we? Let's go!"

The younger doctor nodded and followed after him as he made a beeline to the examination room while his arms out and make airplane noises along the way.

Sure, he was acting like himself again, but there was he the actions were forced. He was putting on an act, and Shinra wasn't buying it, he'd already briefly seen under his mask.

They both worked quickly, taking out the necessary tools and arranging them out like they always do. Both Shinra and Shingen have always set up their medical tools the same way. Ever since Shinra was young, his father had him stand in during surgeries, and he gotten use to the way his father set up his tools. He never really changed the way he set up his equipment, even when he began performing operations on his own. It was convenient for the both of them especially when they worked together like this.

"I'll go wait for them at the door" Shinra said as they finished preparations.

"I'll come with you" Shingen responded.

* * *

Downstairs, the two parties arrived at the apartment building.

Shizuo leapt off the bike before it stopped completely and dashed to the side of Togusa's van. Kida had already opened the door, "He's not doing so well. Can you carry him Shizuo-san?"

Shizuo was already on it before he asked. He scooped up the frail man and dashed into the building, Kida hot on his heels.

Celty went in ahead beforehand and managed to catch an elevator for them. The three of them boarded it without a word.

"Uwahh~! I got a couple pictures of Shizuo carrying Izaya!" Erika swooned as she skimmed through the candid photos she managed to take, "Kyaaaa! This is a dream come true!"

"Seriously Karisawa-san! This isn't the time to be thinking about that!" Walker reprimanded.

Togusa twisted around to survey the damage on his carpet. There was large amount of blood staining the fibres. He groaned. That would be a mission and a half to get out.

"Hey Kadota-san, in all honesty, do you think…he'll make it? Considering the two shots in the chest and look at all that blood he lost…"

His query was met with silence. Kadota's eye remained fixed on the entrance he saw the three disappear through. He sat there, quietly contemplating.

Erika's smile fell and Walker stopped trying to confiscate her phone. Kadota's grave silence was unsettling.

"You don't think Izaya is going to be alright?" Erika asked in a small voice.

"I don't know" he began, "Shinra is a great doctor. He is Izaya's best bet right now. But…it's not looking good for him. All we can do is hope he pulls through."

* * *

Shinra gave his father a strange look. "You know, I never knew you and Izaya where so close" he commented offhandedly as they walked down the hallway.

"We're not." Shingen denied gruffly. "This whole fiasco is probably his fault. That damn sneak."

"...Is this about your 'equipment'?" Shinra asked as he opened the front door.

"Yes." Shingen sighed "I…suppose I should tell you then. You'll probably find out very soon anyway".

Before Shingen could open his mouth to elaborate, the elevator door opened, revealing Celty and one of Izaya's underlings, Kida, followed by Shizuo carrying a very pale and unconscious Izaya.

"Shit …" Shingen muttered.

"How is he?" Shinra asked as he and his father led the group inside towards the room they both prepared.

"He's _shot_ and bleeding. How do you fucking think he is?!" Shizuo snapped.

Izaya's underling cut in smoothly, "He's been floating in and out of consciousness. He's lost a lot of blood, his pulse is going crazy, but he's still breathing. Barely." Kida explained calmly to the doctor.

Shinra nodded and pointed to the examination table. "Put him here. I need all of you to wait outside until we're done"

Shizuo gently put the raven down on the table and locked gazes with Shinra. _Don't let him die._

Shinra nodded in return, _I'll do my best_.

Shingen had already began preparing their patient as soon as he was set on the table. Shinra quickly followed suit.

Shizuo turned to leave, Kida and Celty stood waiting for him at the door. Celty closed the door behind them as they left, leaving the doctors to their work.

Shinra hooked Izaya up to the heart monitor, an IV drip and blood packets, it was enough for now; it would probably help if they got more blood after they get him to a stable condition. His father had already removed his jacket, and simply tore his shirt revealing the two wounds. He tossed the articles of clothing aside. The jacket made a muffled clang as it hit the ground and several scalpels fell out of the pocket. Shingen muttered something under his breath before returning his attention to their patient.

They began the operation. Izaya was looking very pale, and his heart rate was racing as Kida said.

They had to hurry and stabilize him.

* * *

During the ride back to headquarters, Shiki had an ominous feeling as soon as he heard his cellphone ring with Akabayashi's name on the caller display. He could fathom why, he just knew something was wrong.

"There's been a shooting Shiki-san"

He sighed, "Explain"

"I don't know what happened exactly, but I got a weird call from Ken-chan, Aozaki's subordinate. You know him? I think you do. What am I saying, of course you do. Um, anyway…" he cleared his throat, giving himself a break from his uncharacteristically nervous rambling before continuing, "I heard some shooting in the background of the call so I figured there was trouble. So I checked up on Dollars to see there was any news on what was going on."

Akabayashi sighed uncomfortably "Orihara Izaya was shot, by one of our men."

Shiki clenched his jaw, and inhaled deeply through his nose. His knuckles went white under the strain of his grip on the phone.

The rest of the occupants in the car shifted anxiously.

Straining to keep his voice even, he asked as calmly as he could muster "I thought I said we're leaving him."

"I know Shiki…I informed everyone. It was Aozaki's subordinates that were out of touch during the last order. I didn't think they would shoot him of all things, the original order was not to kill either. I'm still trying to figure out what exactly happened. I've also been trying to reach Ken-chan, but he hasn't picked up any of my calls"

"Is he responsible for this?"

"I can't say for sure…but he called to confirm the new order with me. When I told him that the search was off, he sounded pissed. Then said something about a 'rat problem'."

"Rat problem?" Shiki asked. This was just getting more complicated by the second.

"I'm just as lost as you. But I can say with confidence that Ken-chan doesn't kill without Aozaki's direct order. Once I get a hold of him, we can figure- ah, shit, hold on a second…" He put him on hold to answer a call on the other line.

Shiki rubbed his hand across his forehead, trying to soothe the creases that were starting to form there. He couldn't help but to be concerned about Izaya, he felt partially responsible for the kid after all. It was he who first introduced him into the underground world. He saw much promise in him, so he offered him a place amongst their ranks, which he gladly accepted with a smile. Even at a young age, Orihara Izaya managed to seam himself so perfectly into the underground society and strategically made himself an indispensable tool, one that would be a waste to ever throw away, just as planned.

Thinking back now, was Shiki really the one brought him? Or was it Izaya who artfully swayed him to take him?

He wouldn't put it past the boy, he was too smart for his own good, and overconfident. It might even get him killed one day.

"Shiki," Akabayashi's voice returned, "that was Ken, they got the guy who shot Izaya, they're bringing him back now. He didn't say much, but he did say that the guy apparently used Aozaki's phone to give a false order to the rest of them."

Shiki's face darkened. "When will they arrive?"

"Ah…maybe 15 minutes?"

"Good, I'll be there. Waiting"

* * *

It was during the process of removing the first bullet when his pulse became erratic.

Shinra cursed under his breath, '_The labetothol should have helped stabilize his heart condition! Damn, this is bad._'

Suddenly, his heart gave in and completely stopped beating. The heart monitor rang out in alarm.

"We're losing him" Shinra announced as he started up the defilabrator.

"Wait, you don't…" his father started, but he ignored him.

"Clear"

Shinra pressed the two metal plates on the patient's chest. His body jerked upward, but his heart didn't start.

'_Come on Izaya, don't die on me_' he mentally begged.

"Clear!"

Jolt. Nothing.

"CLEAR!"

After two more attempts, it became apparent that his heart would not start up again.

The sound of the flat line was deafening to his ears.

Shinra stared at the device in mute shock. He finally closed his eyes and hung his head in defeat. The horrible sound panged against his ears and resonated through him, making wilt both inside and out.

Shingen sighed, "Shinra…"

The younger doctor held his hand up to silence his father, he didn't want to hear it.

He didn't want to hear that they were too late.

That they failed.

That he was gone.

* * *

The occupants in the living room snapped their heads up in alarm. The ominous "_Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep_" cut through the tense silence like a sharp knife.

Everyone knew what that sound meant.

Kida paled, his mouth slightly agape in shock, he couldn't seem to form words. He turned to the other two sitting with him, gaging their reactions too. They also seemed to be as stunned as he was. The Black Rider only returned his gaze briefly before turning back to the door.

Shizuo clenched his fists and scrunched his eyes closed, as if trying to will the sound away. It didn't work. It only seemed to get louder. Giving up, he stood without a word and went to the balcony, fishing his pockets for a cigarette.

Kida didn't know how Shizuo was feeling. He didn't know how he himself felt. He met the man a few minutes ago, and he actually liked the guy.

He gripped his phone tightly. He flicked it open and typed a last message to his boss. It angered him that Izaya had some hand in all of this. And he himself was too cowardly to rebel against him despite knowing that. He went to the hallway to type the rest of his message in solitude.

Celty stayed in her seat, waiting patiently for Shinra to emerge from the operating room. As a friend of Izaya's, this loss would affect him deeply, especially since he was the one trying to save him, and failed to do so. He would grieve, and she was here for him.

* * *

"Haha, so you figured it out Kida-kun" Izaya commented as he read the new message from Kida.

["_Orihara Izaya" died on Dr. Kishitani's operating table. If that's all, I'm done for today_]

"Ah" he sighed in disappointment, "I was expecting a lot more from that guy. He was modelled after me after all…"

A minor regret that he didn't get to meet this copy of his. It would have been much more interesting if he actually got to meet his duplicate face to face; he was interested to see what kind of person he was. What kind of a human he was. Or monster, whatever he preferred.

Izaya shrugged "All's well that ends well, I guess"

And he smiled. He smiled at the thought of Shinra or Shizu-chan's (_especially Shizu-chan's_) reaction to his return from the dead. How would he look? Confused? Scared? _Angry_? Izaya made a mental note to take a picture of Shizuo's face when that happens, it was bound to be priceless. Maybe save it as his phone's wallpaper.

He also smiled at the irony; Shingen who tried hard to find his creation, only to find him…and lose him again.

But for the most part, he smiled because he was the one and only Orihara Izaya, and that fact won't be changing, not now, not ever.

* * *

**[Author's Note] So much for my "perfect system". This chapter was meant to be posted two weeks ago. But I got ahead of myself and started writing one of the chapters for the next arc. Priority fail xP.**

**I'm going to get chewed up for this aren't I? Trust me, story is not ending. I wish I could say more, but I don't like spoiling things. But what I will say is that a couple of things that have been hinted at, or only half explained will be properly addressed next chapter.**

**Credits to my sister again for the help on the surgery scene!**

**Speaking of thanks, a big shout out to the lovely, talented ****xXSakura -no-HanaXx** **who drew the new gorgeous cover! It's amazing! Check out the full sized version on her deviantart page (link in my profile, because FFnet won't let me link stuff here OTL). Be sure to comment on it, give her lots of love!**

**And of course a big thank you to the new readers, followers and reviewers! Don't underestimate the power of feedback. It really boosts my determination to get the chapters out as quick as possible, and I thank you again for taking the time to tell me what you think. I appreciate each and every one of you.**

**Until next time (which is hopefully sooner than later),**

**SNU**


	13. Questions and Answers

**Warning: Swearing. Violence/Torture**

* * *

Shingen clicked his tongue in annoyance and unplugged the heart monitor machine, then resumed patching up the wound he was working on.

Shinra snapped his head up. "What on earth are you doing?!"

"It's going to get annoying after a while…so I unplugged it."

Shinra stood, dumbfounded. It wasn't surprising for such an absurd sentence to come from his father. But one that was delivered in a completely serious tone implied that he was not joking.

"Father...his heart stopped. There's nothing else we can do now. He's gone." Shinra murmured, as he looked at his friend's lifeless face. It was hard to believe that Izaya was _gone_. The entirety of the situation didn't hit him yet. And he wasn't going to let it, he was still in the operating room, and here he was a doctor first. Emotions can come later. Here, he needed to be professional.

And right now, he father was doing the exact opposite of that.

"Seriously dad, that's _enough_"

Shingen shook his head, and his hands kept working. Calmly treating a dead man's wounds.

"Son, I know what I'm doing" he extracted the bullet from the wound, "Trust me, I'll explain properly later"

He was being serious. He was _seriously_ going to continue. What made him absolutely confident that he could somehow cure the body that was slowly getting cold on the table? He wasn't going to tolerate this behaviour anymore. Hiding things from him and sneaking around Shinra could handle. Lying to a group of yakuza, putting the both of them in danger was pushing it. And now he was disrespecting his _dead_ friend? He had to put his foot down to this nonsense.

"Just what part of dead don't you understand?" Shinra grounded out.

Shingen sighed "He's not dead"

Shinra frowned. He re-examined the body as his father started stitching. He checked his pulse.

And anticlimactically, he found there was none.

"His heart stopped, he's not breathing…That's as dead as you can get father"

"Look, I don't have time to stop and explain, just help me and finish up with that wound"

Shinra pursed his lips and gave his father a hard stare (which was ignored). He sighed irritably but he did as he was told and continued stitching the gunshot wound he was working on earlier. He has done stranger things than mending a dead man's injuries.

"We have time now, you can explain while we work, can't you?" All this secrecy and promises to 'tell him later' wasn't going to cut it. Shinra wanted answers, and at this point, he deserved _that_ much at least.

The older doctor paused, "…Well I suppose I can…_But_, this does not leave this room, understand?"

Shinra nodded.

And so, Shingen began telling his son Roppi's story.

* * *

The atmosphere in the Awakusu-kai headquarters was brutally tense. The hostility was thick in the air, like a cloud of swarming bees; buzzing, agitated that their home had been invaded by intruder.

Everyone had heard what had happened.

The news had spread that there was a mole that had snuck into their ranks and hoodwinked a whole group of them to go against orders. The word 'mole' alone was more than enough to set the yakuza men off. They were absolutely infuriated when they heard what he did. Several men who were eager to see the rat's punishment gathered outside the common room; where three demons were dealing with the soon to be dead man inside.

Shiki wiped the blood off of his fists on a handkerchief, while digging his boot into the whimpering man's cheek. When he was done, he dropped the soiled cloth onto the man's face and rolled his sleeves back down, seemingly done offering his share of pain.

He passed Akabayashi, who had a mad grin on his face.

He whistled at the damage his colleague dealt to the bloody man on the ground. "Wow Shiki. Usually you're supposed to ask the questions, _then_ beat the answers out of them."

Shiki tsked has he sat down on the couch, "Do I look like I'm in a questioning mood right now? You go."

Akabayashi gave him a lazy salute "Sure thing"

He strode over to the bloodied man on the floor.

"So, are you there is an easy way, and there is a fun way. Your choice. Are you going to tell us what we want to know?"

Satoshi, the man in question peered up at his interrogator with one swollen eye, "Fuck you, Red. I ain't saying shit."

The red-haired demon grinned, "I was hoping you'd say that. First things first…" he kneeled down and casually stabbed Satoshi's hand, nailing it to the floor, "You are to address me as _Akabayashi-sama_, got it?"

His victim only hollered in response.

The rest of the men watched the violence without batting an eye. Only wincing when Akabayashi pulled out more unconventional tools, like a carrot peeler.

The man screamed and cried for about ten minutes before finally begging for mercy. A sign that he was close to breaking.

That was when Shiki's phone vibrated in his pocket. It attracted the attention of most of the people in the room, being the only other sound apart from Satoshi's pitiful cries. He retrieved the phone and waved them off, only sparing Aozaki an apologetic glance for the disturbance. He checked to see who was calling and froze. Shiki stared in slight disbelief at the caller ID, then he swiftly pressed the answer button to take the call.

"Hello?"

"Yo~ Shiki-san! How's it going?"

Shiki sighed in annoyance and slight relief. But mostly annoyance. "You haven't been answering my calls all day."

"Well you know…I was a little preoccupied" said the smooth, always-too-cocky voice over the line.

Shiki scoffed "I figured. Yet, getting shot sure didn't stop you from calling back."

"Haha, true. Well, this way, I get some peace and quiet, instead of running from all the big scary goons, preventing me from calling you back." the caller responded playfully as if the whole idea was amusing to him.

"Good to know you're perfectly fine" Shiki commented as he rose from the couch to walk over to the corner of the room to keep the conversation private and to get away from the pain-laced howls behind him.

"Worried about me? My, I'm flattered"

"Don't get ahead of yourself. It would have been troublesome to replace you, my main concern was where we'd get our intel from if you got yourself killed."

"How cruel of you Shiki-san. Ahh, now I'm wounded in more ways than one"

"Speaking of which, shouldn't you be resting Izaya?" Shiki asked once he was sure no one was eavesdropping. "Or is there something important that you wanted to ask that couldn't wait?"

"Hit the nail on the head as usual" Izaya chuckled, "And yes, just one little thing I want to ask about. And I believe I hear him screaming in the background."

Shiki half-turned towards the commotion behind him, "The rat that shot you, huh? His name is Satoshi. That's about as much as I can tell you now…does the name ring a bell?"

"Hmm…can't say it does. Is there nothing else?"

"Not at the moment, but I think he'll be telling us a little more about himself soon."

On cue, Akabayashi hailed one of Aozaki's men who were watching from their seats around the dining table, "Yo, Ken-chan, pass me the salt."

"OKAY! OKAY! I'LL TALK! I'll talk! God…Please, j-just stop!"

The redhead kissed his teeth in displeasure. "Maaan, what a pushover. I didn't even get to the good stuff yet," he called out to Aozaki over his shoulder, "He's all yours Aozaki-san"

Aozaki, who sat on the couch through the duration of the brutality signaled his men to bring the broken man to him. Unlike Akabayashi, he wasn't the type to get his own hands dirty.

Ken was the one who dragged the broken man over to their boss, dropping him at Aozaki's feet.

"Let's make this quick you little shit. From the top, what's your name?"

"Satoshi Urameshi…"

"Why did you join the Awakusu-kai?"

"T-To gather information about the w-weapon from Nebula…"

Aozaki's face darkened. "What fucking data did you collect?"

"Only w-what it was, and the estimated damage it can cause. That's it I swear!"

The fool didn't know those two pieces of information were more than enough to get unwanted attention from the other factions. They definitely wouldn't ignore such a big threat. The destructive power that weapon held was more powerful than all the weapons possessed by any of the surrounding Japanese yakuza. To hold that power, was like holding the ultimate trump card. Nobody would oppose them. Once the existence of the weapon was out, there would definitely be bloodshed over it. It was war initiating information. Leaking that information was like painting a giant target on their organization's back.

"Did you tell anyone about it?"

"…Y-Yes"

"Who?

"….Y-Yodogiri Jinnai, the guy who paid me to infiltrate this place."

The occupants in the room stirred in recognition to the name. The Awakusu has being pursuing him for a long time, but he'd always manage to avoid them. He's been causing a lot of trouble to their faction in the past; getting their men killed, leaking information, and causing fights between them and other groups. It would make sense that he was behind this incident too.

Aozaki was not amused. He continued to question the kneeling man, doing his best not to lose his temper, "Why did you send Ken's group the message to kill Orihara Izaya?"

"Yodogiri-san also ordered me to do that. He said something about wanting to take advantage of a convenient situation to rid himself of a long-time thorn in his side."

Aozaki closed his eyes as he mulled over the new turn of events in his head. "Alright. That's all I needed to know. I'm done with this little shit."

He signaled to his men again, a shooing gesture to the man at his feet.

"Please! Wait! Please, I didn't hurt any of your guys right? I told you what you wanted to know! Don't hurt me!" Satoshi all but sobbed.

Aozaki nodded, "That's true. But, we can't just overlook your actions either. So I'll tell you what, we'll let you go. You ain't welcome here no more. You're officially purged from the Awakusu-kai. Ken will go over the rest of the details with you."

He rose from his seat and turned to leave. Satoshi watched him go; flabbergasted, yet very relieved that his punishment wasn't worse. Regardless of how much he pleaded against it, he was sure they would do something more severe to him for his actions.

While Satoshi was still lost in his thoughts, Ken reappeared before him. He didn't pay him much attention, content to half listen to the terms of discharge, but after his now-ex-superior pressed a barrel against his forehead, he had his full attention.

A bewildered Satoshi looked up to see Ken grinning at him in a sickeningly sweet way.

"Consider this your two weeks' notice, you fucking mole."

"Uwa-?!"

_**BAM**_

The rest of his cry was cut off by the bullet that buried itself between his eyes.

Shiki turned back to his phone, "Did you catch any of that, or should I repeat it?"

"No, I heard." Izaya responded, his voice was less bouncy and more serious now, "So it was him huh? I figured it might have been."

The older man hesitated before speaking again, "Izaya…about today…"

"You want to apologize? Not necessary Shiki-san. I'm fine, so you can stop worrying yourself about it. Consider this information as my compensation, kay?"

Shiki fell silent. That type of payback was not ideal, nor was it what he had in mind. It didn't sit well with the prideful yakuza executive.

Izaya didn't really care either way, but he had some semblance of honor; he wouldn't take any compensation for an injury he didn't actually receive. So he ended the conversation before Shiki thought of an alternative.

"Well then, this was a nice talk. I'll speak with you later. Bye!"

"…Good bye Izaya"

Shiki wouldn't admit it, but he was calmed by the fact that this goodbye wasn't the permanent kind of goodbye he was expecting to give the informant earlier today.

* * *

"Plan-B function?"

"Yes," Shingen replied, "It's a function I integrated into his brain afterwards. It's a sort of standby mode, if you will. When the brain detects that the body is in danger of death, such as reaching dangerously low levels of oxygen or blood, it will enter a state of comatose. It completely shuts down bodily functions to prevent further blood loss or bodily trauma. He stays like that until I fix the problem areas and boot it up again."

"…You make him sound like a computer." Shinra listened to his father's borderline insane story. It was bizarre to think that the body on the table was a clone that his father had created. His father explained that he had been cultivating it's organs through cell fermentation for the past eight years. What was truly remarkable was the brain that controlled it all. A synthetic brain, modeled to mimic the functions of a normal brain, which was also able to be programmed with functions such as the Plan-B program that his father previously mentioned.

"Could you repeat again, why you cloned Izaya?"

"I do believe I said it was because I was bored" his father answered ever so cheerfully.

Shinra sighed. "I see. Does Izaya know about this?"

"Of course he knows! I told him this morning!"

"This morn-?….and how did he take it?"

"Ah…not well, I'm guessing. I hung up before he scolded me." Shingen laughed waving his hand in dismissal.

Shinra chuckled right back, "Well that's to be expected. You can't just clone someone, and expect them to be okay with it…speaking of which…you didn't make any more right?"

"Well, not really. I have another synthetic brain back in America. I used it to develop the Plan-B program. I was afraid if the brain shut off and turned back on again, there might be a loss in data. I didn't want Roppi-kun starting back from square one after every shut off. So, I used another brain to test the program, until I was satisfied that there wouldn't be any problems when I used it on Roppi-kun. And that's all I've used it for."

Shinra nodded. His eyes dropped down to re-examine the body that they had finished treating. Shingen had a strange hand held device that he claimed will send a charge to reboot Roppi's brain. Shinra was skeptical that the device would work at first, but to see it for himself, he finally believed his father's ridiculous tale. Like Shingen promised, his heart was beating again, and his chest rose and fell in time with his breathing.

Shingen went off to the medicinal fridge to check the blood supply. After a few minutes of fruitless searching, he returned when he was unable to find what he was looking for. "Shinra, are there no more packets of Type O blood?"

Shinra shook his head, "If there are none in there, then I'm out."

The older doctor put his hand on his chin, "That's not ideal. We need to supply Roppi-kun with more blood. I'd like to keep him well away from the minimal blood capacity, or else he might shut off again. I don't think my device has any more charge for another reboot…"

"I know, I realized we probably needed some more packets earlier as well. Wait here, I'll see if our guests can help us out."

Shinra disposed his rubber gloves, washed his hands before heading out.

His father called out to him before he left, "Remember Shinra, not a word about Roppi" he said, gesturing to the sleeping patient on the bed.

Shinra nodded in understanding and left the room.

Outside, Celty sprang up from her seat and hurried towards him. Shinra couldn't help but to smile, if only she reacted like that every time he entered a room.

[_Is everything alright? We heard the heart monitor…we thought…_] she inquired.

"Not to worry. Izaya is fine. He's resting right now. His heart did stop during the procedure, but he's fine now."

Kida also approached the doctor, albeit more slowly that Celty did, but he caught the tail end of what Shinra said. "He's alright then?"

"Yes, however, we're short on blood supply. He needs some more as soon as possible. That being said, what is your blood type, Masomi-kun?"

"Me? I'm Type A"

"Hmm, no good. I need Type O blood…" Kida wasn't the right match. Celty didn't have blood to give. That left Shizuo, and if he remembered correctly, he did have Type O. Now the only challenge was how to convince him to co-operate…

"Are you sure he's Type O?" Kida asked, with a strange look on his face.

Shinra raised a brow, "Yes Kida, Izaya's has a Type O blood."

"That's not...what I mean is…" Kida scratched the back of his head uncomfortably. "I know this might be hard to believe…but that guy is not…Izaya. So he might not have the same blood type."

Shinra was surprised that Kida already knew. Celty looked equally as perplexed but for another reason.

[_How do you know that's not Izaya?_]

Kida shrugged, "I had a feeling it wasn't him, and so I asked. He admitted that he wasn't"

"I see, I didn't realize you knew." Shinra responded.

Celty turned on him, her body language exuding confusion, [_You knew?_]

"Father explained it to me in the operating room, that guy is actually wearing Izaya's face. He was paid by an outside party to change his appearance to look like Izaya with plastic surgery. Similar to what Harima Mika did. I don't know the details, but that's how it is."

Shinra winced internally for lying to his beloved Celty. '_I'm sorry Celty! I swear I'll explain it to you properly later!_'

He looked over his shoulder to glare at the door his father was behind. He was surprised to find that very man peeking through the slightly opened door, giving him a thumbs-up.

Neither of the other two seemed to notice the other man's presence. Kida nodded, "I thought it would be something like that…"

Now that Kida was sure that the man was not Izaya, nor did he have any immediate connections to him, he decided it there won't be any immediate consequences for not reporting this information to his boss. He could always pretend that he left before he found out the man survived the operation. So he'd better leave soon if he wanted his alibi to remain sound.

"Well, if there is nothing else I can help with, I'll be leaving then." Kida announced before he turned to leave.

Shinra nodded, "Alright, thanks for your help. Take care Masomi-kun."

Kida gave them a lazy wave over his shoulder as he headed to the hallway.

Shinra turned to Celty, "Please tell me Shizuo didn't leave yet."

Celty shook her helmet, and pointed to the balcony where Shizuo was.

* * *

Shizuo took a drag from his cigarette. It was his sixth one today. He wasn't a heavy smoker by any means, but he noticed that on the days when he ran into the flea he uses up a lot more cigarettes he usually does.

'_Fucking Izaya…_'

He tried to muster up a little bit of anger towards his enemy for wasting his cigarettes and money. But he couldn't. It felt like all his anger had drained from his body. He felt incredibly tired after a long, eventful, _confusing_ day.

Izaya was acting completely different than his usual annoying self all day to the point that he couldn't bring himself to beat him up. Shizuo had no idea was had possessed him to help him out either. All he knew at that moment when he looked at him was that he didn't deserve to get hurt.

He knew he was being contradictory. He hated that two-faced rat. He didn't need any mercy. He deserved all the pain in the world. He would give it to him with his own hands if necessary.

But when it came down to it, he couldn't do it. And his own hesitance left him confused about where he stood in terms of Izaya.

"We're enemies" he answered out loud, "It's always been that way."

Since the first day they met, the second his eyes met those taunting ruby ones, he felt loathing. He saw it reflected right back at him as he rejected the flea's invitation for a friendship. And so, they hated each other. They fought each other, like it was the most natural thing to do. Like a cat and a dog, born adversaries.

So why now? Why did it suddenly change today? Why for the first time, when he looked into Izaya's eyes, there wasn't that usual mischievous spark in his eye that always lit Shizuo's fuse?

And the things he said made no sense either.

'_I'm just happy, I got to meet you_'

"The fuck is that supposed to mean?" Shizuo said.

'_It's nice to k-know I'm not alone._'

"Don't say that with such a sincere face, you bastard…" he grumbled.

The flea was probably laughing at him somewhere, for successfully confusing him and leaving him doubting himself.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Shinra had finally come out of the operating room. He was talking with Celty and Kida, probably explaining what happened in there, how Izaya…

Shizuo turned away. He squashed that thought along with his cigarette on the balcony railing.

After a few minutes, he heard the glass door slide open behind him. Out of his peripheral vision, he saw Shinra emerge and joined him on the balcony.

"Hey"

Shizuo nodded in response, "Hey…"

Shinra grinned at him. "No need to be so stiff. I'm not here to deliver bad news."

Shizuo's eyes widened. "Then, he's…?"

"Fine. We nearly lost him, but he managed to pull through in the end."

Shizuo sighed. He got so worked up over nothing. It was his fault for jumping to conclusions before hearing it directly from Shinra.

"But, he needs more blood to make a quicker recovery. You're a Type O blood type aren't you?"

Shizuo nodded.

Shinra clapped both of his hands in front of his face. "Please Shizuo! You're the only one here that has Type O blood, and he only needs a little bit! I don't know if I can get anymore at such short notice. So…can I have your blood? "

The blond debt collector gave his friend a blank stare. "Sure"

"Seriously?" the bespectacled man looked overjoyed, "That was fast, I was expecting to get on my knees or something. Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it's fine. But no funny business alright? You're only taking blood, none of those tests or experiments you've been trying to get me to do"

"Aw…"Shinra pouted, but raised his hands in defence when Shizuo glared at him, "I'm joking! I got it, no experiments or tests. You have my word."

* * *

Shinra took him into the room Roppi was being kept in. Shingen was there waiting for them, he prepared another bed for Shizuo to lie down on as they collected the blood.

The two doctors wasted no time setting up. Shizuo's shirt was removed, and a rubber sash was tied around his bicep. They sterilized his skin with antiseptic and inserted the needle. He was given a stress ball to squeeze as it took the blood from his body.

Shizuo hated every minute of it.

He never liked lying on a hospital bed, nor did he like doctors poking and prodding him, but he dealt with it, somehow.

He peered over at Roppi on the other bed. The raven's eyes were closed, his lashes delicately brushing against his pale skin. It was the first time Shizuo saw the flea's sleeping face. It was weird to see him look so unassuming and meek. A completely different face than the one he was used to.

Shizuo looked away 'He's still a cockroach…he owes me big for this dammit."

His eyes traveled back a second later and stayed there this time. He didn't even notice Shingen sneaking a sample of his blood from the packet behind him.

* * *

**[Author's Note] There's got to be something unlucky about posting chapter 13 on April 1****st****…That being said, Happy April Fools! Though the trick was technically before today when in the last chapter I made it look like Roppi died, but he didn't xD. Haha sorry, that was kinda mean, I'll ****try**** not to do it again :P. [EDIT: Wow, I forgot to make the chapter live. A little late for April Fools]**

**So yes, the "Plan B system" developed and tested on with the other brain (you know who that is xP) that was hinted at in Chapter 3 and 4, is Shingen's failsafe to keep Roppi from dying if he is unable to defend himself. It gives Shingen a chance to heal him even if the body itself can't make it. This doesn't make Roppi invincible by any means, it is a backup method that Shingen and Emilia created that would reduce (not eliminate) the chances of him dying. It's also how Roppi was able to survive travelling in a suitcase to Ikebukuro. Hopes that clears a few questions.**

**Until next time (which is hopefully sooner than later),**

**SNU**


	14. The Two Of Us

**Warning: Swearing.**

* * *

[_So that's it. It wasn't Izaya after all...I knew something was off, but I never would have guessed it was something like this…_]

Shinra and Celty sat on the couch, talking the time away. Now that Kida left, Shinra explained the whole situation to her, about who Roppi really was, and how his father was the one to make him.

"Haah…" Shinra sighed, "Leave it to Father to do something as crazy as cloning another person. He really goes overboard with his experiments."

Celty shivered unconsciously as she remembered _exactly_ how overboard the doctor got. She had been at Shingen's mercy more than once in the past; he was relentless when there was something stirred up his curiosity. He was absolutely fascinated with her body and how it functioned without a head. He dissected her over and over again to learn more about the inner workings of her body. But the more he explored, the more questions were raised, and the more he would experiment on her as a result.

It was a vicious cycle.

She felt sick to her stomach thinking about it. She wondered if Roppi also underwent a similar treatment.

She didn't realize she was shaking until Shinra placed his steady hand over her trembling one.

"Don't worry about it Celty. Though, you're probably right. Knowing my father, Roppi probably had a tough time with him, but we can make sure that he doesn't have to go through that anymore." As always, he deduced what she was thinking easily and managed to comfort her, all in one breath.

She visibly relaxed, [_Really? You'd do that?_]

"Mmhm. And if you want, we can keep him here to make sure he's safe." Shinra smiled.

"Hey, now, that's rude. You make it sound like I'm the bad guy here. And didn't I tell you to keep Roppi-kun a secret, no more than ten minutes ago? You're the biggest gossip ever!" came his father's voice from behind them.

Shinra shamelessly responded, "Of course I'd tell Celty, she is an extension of myself, telling me anything is like telling her. So there's no problem with it."

"Ah, you're hopeless…but kind for inviting Roppi-kun and I to stay."

Shinra's smile dropped, and he settled for a disproving frown, "I didn't say anything letting _you_ stay. You were only supposed to stay here for a week until you found a hotel or another place to stay. That agreement still stands."

"How mean. My own son, kicking me out of his apartment. Ungrateful brat." he sniffed, "Fine. But I am not letting Roppi-kun stay here with the oddballs anyway. I'd fear for Roppi's sanity."

[_You're one to talk! King of Oddballs! Crooked doctor! Villain!_]

"Hey now, that villain comment was out of line..."

[_No, it's an appropriate description. Shinra told me about the things you've done to Roppi. You're the worst._]

Shingen rolled his stiff shoulders without a care, "So he even told you about Project Darwin huh? Well, it doesn't matter. A monster like you wouldn't understand where I'm coming from would you? As his creator and guardian, I want the best for him. I want him to be strong. Project Darwin was designed to make him stronger both physically and mentally, it was a necessary phase he needed to undertake in order to become a perfect being."

[_There are ways to go about doing that, without using such harsh methods._]

Shingen stared blankly at the screen. He seemed to brood over the words written there before he quietly responded, "We have all felt pain, it is part of the human condition. I am not doing him any favours by protecting him of that. It was something he had to feel in order to grow as a person. I don't expect you to agree with my methods, but Roppi-kun has matured because of it, and that's all I hoped for."

Shinra and Celty both stilled at his statement, the irate atmosphere dissipated between them as they considered the man anew. He didn't seem like he was defending himself for his misdeeds, only sadly stating his actions as they were.

Shingen wasn't proud putting the boy through such grief. It pained him to see his charge suffering at his own hand. But for Roppi's sake he would assume the role of the villain if it meant furthering Roppi's developmental progress.

The scientist waved his hand as if batting away the remnants of the grave conversation before in favour of a different topic, "Anyway, I came to ask where Shizuo gone off to. I left the room for minute and when I returned he was already gone."

Shinra blinked at the sudden shift of topic, and replied, "Oh, he said he was leaving. I didn't see why we needed to keep him here longer, so I let him go."

"Ah, pity. Oh well, I got all the samples I needed from him anyhow."

Shinra's eye's widened, "Dad! You..! You snuck a sample from him?! Even after I promised Shizuo that we wouldn't?"

"Ho ho! You're the one who promised, I did no such thing, and therefore his blood is free game as far as I'm concerned" he said proudly.

Shinra curled his fingers into fists and his shoulders were shaking with barely contained fury.

[_That's horrible! Shinra, scold him!_]

"That's not fair Father! You'd better share at least!" he whined.

[_You're angry because of that?! -_-;; _]

"No can do, I'm afraid," Shingen said, voice laced with glee, "You kick me out of the apartment, and expect me to hand over rare and valuable samples? Naïve thinking brat! And besides, wouldn't you feel guilty obtaining samples from your best friend after promising you wouldn't take any?"

As his father said, no matter how much he wanted that blood sample, he would never betray Shizuo's trust.

"…not fair.." Shinra pouted.

Celty sighed, [_Honestly, you two…More importantly, how is Roppi doing?_]

"He's doing well. His wounds are all patched up, and he's in a stable condition now. The rough part is over. The boy is resting for now, I'd suspect he'll probably be awake later on this afternoon, or in the evening."

[_That's good_, _I'm glad he's alright. He's a very charming boy, I'm actually kind of fond of him_]

"Celty! Noo, don't fall for him!" Shinra wailed. Celty pushed his face away in annoyance.

Shingen, however was confused, "Charming you say?"

[_Yes, which is why I initially suspected there was something wrong. Normally Izaya wouldn't talk so formally to Shizuo or myself. And he smiled so sincerely. Completely different from Izaya. Meek, quiet, but respectful._]

'_Smiled? Meek and respectful? Are we talking about the same person?_' the doctor thought disbelievingly. Roppi hadn't shown any behavioural progress in months, regardless of everything he and Emilia tried. And in one short day he managed to develop more character traits that changed his usual grouchy, anti-social self.

"I see… that piece of information was very enlightening. Thank you Celty-kun, you've given me a lot to think about."

The couple sitting on the couch exchanged puzzled glances as they watched the older man distractedly muttering to himself as he walked out of the living room.

"Wait one second Father. Since you are Roppi-kun's guardian, I trust you'll be taking care of the surgery fee?"

The older doctor flinched, and turned on his son incredulously "Now, wait just a second! I assisted in that surgery! You can't be serious about charging me, can you? Your own father?"

Shinra smiled sincerely "Of course. It's only fair If I get some sort of compensation, since you're also walking away with samples that I've been trying to get a hold of since grade school, and I ended up with nothing. If not, I might accidently mention this to Shizuo, he'd be really mad you know…"

Shingen slumped in defeat. He wondered when his son became so crafty. Surely he didn't get it from his father...

* * *

Sender: Warden

Message: The commotion has died down, hasn't it?

Sender: Miho

Message: Yeah…it has.

Sender: Rabisan

Message: So what happened in the end?

Sender: Asanuma

Message: The yakuza got their revenge on Izaya, didn't they?

Sender: Ari

Message: That's what I heard…

Sender: Fruits Punch Samurai

Message: That's what I _saw_!

Sender: Young Leaf

Message: So… he's dead or what?

Sender: Warden

Message: No clue

Sender: Fruits Punch Samurai

Message: Then no reward money? Laaame…

Sender: Miho

Message: Idiot, there wasn't any money in the first place, this was a prank from the beginning.

Sender: Haruko

Message: All that fuss over a joke? Uwah, whoever started it is going to get in some serious trouble if that guy dies~

Sender: Ari

Message: Oh no…is the police going to get involved? Are the Dollars members going to get questioned?

Sender: Gaki

Message: Nah, I wouldn't worry about it. I'm sure he wouldn't die that easily.

* * *

He opened his eyes and found himself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. It took him a whole minute to realize he should be panicking.

Roppi, suddenly very much awake, clumsily pushed himself to a sitting position. He gasped, and tried to ignore the pinching pain from his heavily bandaged chest. It was uncomfortable, but it wasn't an unfamiliar feeling by any means.

'_Two wounds…Stitches. I've been treated?_'

He took a moment to remember what had happened. He remembered he escaped from the Nebula labs in the morning, and he was being chased by random groups of people. Dollars, he recalled. The Black Rider and Heiwajima Shizuo had told him that there was a bounty over Orihara Izaya's head. Afterwards…

'_Ah, that's right. The fight. I was shot,_' he gingerly placed a hand over his bandaged chest. Then where was he right now? His memory was fuzzy after the point he got shot. There were bits and pieces that came to him, like an interior of a van, strong hands and concerned eyes, but nothing solid to tell him where he was currently. But he figured he was in good hands, since he wasn't tied up, being dissected by unknown scientists, or interrogated by thugs.

Roppi glanced at the wall. For once there was a window that showed him the outside view. The sky was a deep shade of red, and it was considerably darker than the last time he was awake. He must have been unconscious for a while. How convenient windows were, he was able to judge how long he was out without having to get up and find a clock.

Careful not to irritate his wounds, Roppi slowly turned his body so his legs hung off the side of the bed and he took in his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was his jacket hung on a coat rack near the door. Good to know it was nearby; it also looked like it was washed since there wasn't a speck of residual blood from his wounds in sight.

'That was very thoughtful of them to clean it…' Roppi supposed as he continued to survey the room. He froze as his eyes landed on one of the many certificates hung on the wall. It wasn't the degree itself that distressed him, but the name printed in big bold letters.

**KISHITANI SHINRA**

A feeling of dread washed over him as he remembered where he was taken to get treated. He was being taken to Kishitani Shinra's apartment. At the time he didn't realize what that would imply, but now he was fully awake, and fully aware of what exactly that meant and why it was a bad thing. If he was at Kishitani Shinra's house, and considering the late hour, that also meant that…

As if his thoughts summoned the man himself, the door swung open, revealing an all too familiar figure clad in white, with an industrial gas mask covering his face.

"Ah! Roppi-kun! You're awake? Wonderful!"

Roppi groaned, "Fuck…"

A hand unsympathetically chopped down on his head, "Watch your language boy! Honestly, one day outside the lab and you've become a delinquent."

Roppi growled "That hurt old man"

"Not as much as it hurt coming back to an empty laboratory" Shingen sniffed, "I mean really, did you know how much trouble you've caused with your sloppy get away?"

The younger man shrugged uncaringly, to which Shingen blew up in offence.

"Don't you shrug boy! You could have gotten yourself killed! I'll have you know that you chose the worst possible escape route that caused the both of us a whole lot of trouble. That van you decided to hop on happened to be transporting important cargo to the Awakusu group. A very dangerous _yakuza_group! YA-KU-ZA! If I didn't clear things up, it would have gone worse, and the both of us would have been at the bottom of Tokyo Bay right they're ya-"

"Yakuza, yes, I get it." Roppi interjected, "It had something to do about their 'important secret' or something? I read the Dollars' message from the Black Rider"

"Ah, so you have an inkling of the mess you've caused. Yes, the cargo was a weapon that was being delivered to Awakusu group. It was a delicate secret, so you can imagine their shock when you jumped out the delivery truck. Oh, that was one hell of a flying kick by the way. You lose points on subtlety there, but a full 10/10 on the execution." Shingen quipped.

"…thanks?"

"Thanks my foot! It was still stupid, stupid-Roppi! They caught the whole damn thing on camera too!" he said, shaking his head, "I nearly had a heart attack when I came back to the apartment filled with scary looking thugs, and your face on the T.V"

What Roppi would have given to see his expression at that moment. But even if that was caught on camera, it wouldn't be worth much since Shingen hardly ever took his gas mask off.

"I tried fibbing my way out of it, but that Shiki, he's to perceptive for his own good. His men were more than ready to shoot me on the spot. In the end, I managed to convince him to call of the hunt for you, you should be grateful. I even went as far to call Izaya to help to track you down. A load of good that did. Argh, I'm getting too old for this." Shingen pulled up a nearby chair and straddled it, "So…tell me how your day was. I see you took the liberty of stealing my new scalpels. Did you bring all of them back at least? "

The corner of Roppi's lips quirked upwards. He would have gladly revealed that, no, a large fraction of them were scattered in various locations all across the city, due to Roppi using them as projectiles and weapons as he fled from gangs.

But first, he wanted to confirm Shingen's earlier statement that bothered him, "You said you got the yakuza to back off right? But they were still chasing me, they were the ones who shot me."

"What?" Shingen asked perplexed.

Roppi paused, "Actually, the leader stopped the fight, and there was that other guy with the gun. I think it was an internal dispute…"

Shingen held up his hand, "From the beginning please."

Roppi retold what happened from after he left the parking garage; when he walked the streets of Ikebukuro, and the cellphones suddenly chiming, followed by the abrupt chase, his first real-life combat and his subsequent victory, his second real-life combat and his subsequent loss. He went on to tell Shingen of his first encounter with Heiwajima Shizuo. The doctor quietly observed as Roppi described meeting the fortissimo of Ikebukuro. He spoke with thinly veiled admiration and enthusiasm as described the way he swiftly fought off the delinquents and even managed to injure Roppi himself. He told Shingen about how the Black Rider intervened and showed him the Dollars message. Roppi unconsciously let his lips quirk upwards fondly at the part the two Ikebukuro legends decided to help him. He looked like a delighted fan that met his idols, but was trying to be as nonchalant as possible about it.

Shingen bit his lip to stop himself from guffawing during Roppi's recounting of the fight with the Awakusu-kai members.

The boy's eyes were practically sparkling from the fact that he got to fight side by side with the two legendary monsters.

"Well, you sound like you had fun" Shingen noted.

Apparently he wasn't able to hide all the humour from his voice, Roppi was able to hear it and immediately scowled, his cheeks flamed in embarrassment. "Shut up."

"Haha sure…now what about the internal dispute?"

Roppi nodded, "The leader suddenly called off the fight. He said there was a 'misunderstanding', and pointed his gun at one of his own men, the one that took the first shot at me. From what they were saying, I think that guy tricked the group into fighting with us somehow."

Shingen placed his hand on his chin in thought. He wondered who the man's intended target was. Izaya or Roppi? If it was Izaya, just about anyone could have sent him. If it was Roppi…well there was only one other person who knew that Roppi existed, and probably wished he didn't.

If Izaya did this to harm Roppi, he had hell to pay.

"I don't really remember much after that…that guy got free and shot me, and now I'm here."

The doctor nodded, "And now you're here" he repeated, "And the next order of business is deciding how to smuggle you back into the lab…it'll look weird if I brought another huge suitcase of 'equipment' when I already moved in last week" the older man joked.

Roppi's face was abnormally blank following his jest. Shingen actually shifted uncomfortably at his unusual reaction, "Eh?...Roppi-kun?"

As if a switch was flipped, Roppi's hand grabbed the bed sheet and tossed it at Shingen, obscuring his vision.

"?!"

Shingen heard the bed creak and a discomforted grunt as Roppi presumably pushed himself off the bed in preparation to flee.

The older doctor foresaw this kind of reaction, and prepared for it. As he stood from his seat as he wrestled his way out of the large white sheet, and kicked he chair at the general direction of the door. Sure enough, he heard a sound of a collision, a pained '_oof_' followed by an ungraceful thump.

When the doctor finally pulled the edge of the sheet off himself, he strode over to his lively charge on the ground and grabbed his arm just as he attempted another lunge at the door.

"Let go!" he growled.

"Settle down! You'll upset your wounds."

"I don't care! I'm not going back with you!"

"Oh ho! Big words for someone who left the lab for a day, and got _shot_. Twice! What does that tell you?"

"That you're an asshole! Let GO!"

It was a childish and nonsensical comeback, but Shingen still bristled at the insult, "Would you just calm down and try and think for a second? You have no money, no identification and nowhere to go. And I'm the only person you know in the country. What exactly are you planning on doing without my help?"

He gripped his arm tighter with purpose.

He decided not to mention Shinra was willing to offer him a place to stay. The boy didn't need to know that, _yet_.

Roppi stopped struggling. He placed his free hand over his bandaged chest; he could feel himself stressing his wounds with his movements.

"I don't know," he muttered, "But I'll figure it out"

Shingen's smile was hidden behind his mask, "Why? Wouldn't it be easier for you to live in obscurity? Where you don't have to deal with the people out here? According to what you've told me, you don't really like them and they've caused you a lot of problems."

"I don't care about them…" Roppi mumbled. He stood there silently, trying to figure out how to plead his case. It was like that time he begged the doctor to put an end to Project Darwin. Except that time, he was shot down immediately. Not this time however, this time was going to be different. He was going to make Shingen realize that he was wrong.

"…You know, I saw the sky for the first time today. That probably sounds ridiculous to you…you probably get to see it all the time. But for me, it was the first time I saw it. It was much bigger than I'd imagined it to be. I thought I knew what to expect when I stepped outside, but turns out, I had no idea. It was amazing to physically see all the things I've only heard about or seen on a flat screen. I saw things, felt things, experienced things. And for the first time, I really felt like I was living, rather than just existing…" He paused to let his words sink in. "There are things that I just can't learn in a lab, Shingen. You realize that too, don't you?"

Roppi faced his guardian with eyes filled with defiance and determination. "I'll do what I have to, I'll be careful to keep out of trouble, I won't attract attention, I'll even make money somehow. I just don't want to go back to living like a cheap piece of equipment stashed away in your lab. There is more to my life than that, I know that now. I won't let you tell me otherwise."

Shingen felt a lump forming in his throat as he listened to his creation truly speak his mind. He swallowed thickly as he habitually revaluated Roppi's character development, _'He's showing signs of ambition, budding independence, an interest with the unknown, and typical human irrationality too. Really now Roppi-kun, who told you to grow up when I wasn't looking?'_

Shingen stopped pulling, and Roppi yanked his arm away from his grasp the second he felt the older man's grip slacken.

"That's…very human of you"

Roppi glared at him in revulsion. "_What_?"

"I've been thinking about it for a while now... I've decided to go with that instead"

Now, Roppi blinked in confusion "…what?"

"You don't need to go back to the lab, is what I'm saying."

"I don't… wait, what? Really?" Roppi didn't know what to say.

Shingen chuckled, "Really. It's a little earlier than I planned, but mingling with the outside world has done leaps at bounds with your progress. You've begun displaying a broader range of emotion, and you've managed to develop more human-like characteristics. It's truly remarkable. And, I am a man of science after all. I acknowledge results when I see them."

"Plus it would be a big hassle to smuggle you back into Nebula at this point. I'm sure after your little stunt with the delivery truck today, they will tighten up security. And I'll definitely be questioned; I can't have anyone investigate me while trying to hide you. It just won't end well. Also, you probably won't stay put now that you've seen the outside, am I right?"

"Well, yeah…but what about keeping me a secret? Doesn't letting me go make me a liability?"

"The only way to keep you hidden now is to hide you in plain sight. Though, I don't know what to say about there being two Izayas walking around, but we will deal with that bridge when we cross it I suppose. Either way, hiding you would raise more uncomfortable questions than letting you out in the open."

Roppi was speechless. Shingen was serious. He was actually (_finally_) letting him go…

"My only concern is this. You are essentially an uninvited member of society, an alien, not yet human. If anyone were to find out, there will be consequences," the doctor bluntly told him, he needed to be told this upfront, "You will be rejected if they found out the truth. Are you alright with that? Can you live alongside of humans knowing that one day they could shun you at any moment for what you are?"

Roppi scoffed, "I couldn't care less what humans think. They mean nothing to me. I'm interested in more important things." The image of a menacing blond that he was determined to learn more about was on the forefront of his mind as he spoke.

Shingen studied him for a minute. It seemed that his socially-withdrawn nature still hasn't changed. In fact, it probably worsened after today's fiasco. Hopefully that would improve as time goes by as well. "Well, now that that's settled, then I should make plans for living arrangements. We need to get you a place to stay; I believe Shinra was willing to offer you a room…"

"No…hold on," Roppi began, "before you make plans, I actually have one request…"

* * *

CHATROOM

_-Tanaka Taro has joined the chat-_

Tanaka Taro: Hi everyone

Setton: Evenin'

Bakyura: Yo!

Saika: Hello Tanaka Taro-kun

Tanaka Taro: What a crazy day ( ._.) =3

Setton: Yeah…

Kanra: Ah yes, today's unofficial headlines "DOLLARS' THRILLING MANHUNT!" Uwah, dangerous~ (ノ＞▽＜)ノ

[PRIVATE CHAT]

Tanaka Taro: Izaya-san, you're here! I was so worried. I saw you take those bullets in the chest, I couldn't find out what happened afterwards. Are you're alright?

Kanra: Oh? What's this, you were worried? I'm touched Mikado-kun. But rest assured, I'm fine. There's nothing to be worried about.

Kanra: But if you can do me a favour, I'd like to keep that information quiet a little longer.

Tanaka Taro: Alright Izaya-san. You have my word.

CHATROOM

Saika: Manhunt?

Setton: Oh nothing to worry about, just a few people got tricked into chasing around Orihara Izaya for a fake cash reward.

Bakyura: Ha ha, 'Nothing to worry about' she says! Nice (^_^)b

Kanra: Hey now! Orihara Izaya got chased yakuza and shot too you know! That's not a little issue!

Saika: That sounds serious

Tanaka Taro: It's over now. After Izaya-san got shot, I think he was taken to get help. Up to that point, people already stopped pursuing him.

Saika: I see

Bakyura: Mehh, if only Kanra was the one who was chased and shot to death, that would have been awesome.

Kanra: Ehh Σ(ﾟДﾟ|||) ? How does such a morbid thing make you happy? Be sad like a normal person!

Bakyura: If it's Kanra-san, I'd only cry tears of joy.

Setton: Geez, you two.

Saika: That was mean…

Bakyura: Haha, we're only kidding around.

Bakyura: Right Kanra-san? We're bud**DIE**s aren't we? But, since there are la**DIE**s in the au**DIE**nce, I will stop making row**DIE**r jokes. (Go **DIE**!)

Kanra: Subtle at first… but in the end you came right out and told me to go die, didn't you? （￣□￣；）

* * *

It was only later on that night was when Izaya made his way back to his apartment. He stayed over at his neighbour's vacant apartment a few more hours than he needed to just to be safe. There was a possibility that there were still a few people still looking for him for one reason or another. So he decided to lay low until he was absolutely certain that the heat died down.

Izaya made it to his door and found it as he left it; closed, locked and completely intact. And luckily, there weren't any sketchy figures hanging around, waiting for him either. He took out his keys and unlocked his door, walking through it with his laptop under his arm.

Shockingly, Namie was still working at her desk. She usually left as soon as her shift ended. Could it be she wanted to make sure his home was safe until he returned?

'_How sweet, maybe I should consider giving her a raise_'

Namie noticed his presence as he walked over to the closet. She blinked, perplexed, before Izaya caught a flash of amusement cross her face. He acted as if he didn't notice.

"What? You're not going to scold me for being late?" he remarked, trying to rile her up.

"You're late" she replied without missing a beat. She narrowed her eyes ever so slightly. "Not that I care. What took you so long? I expected you would have come back as soon as that guy got shot."

Izaya shrugged, "I was tying up some loose ends so to speak. I needed to let a couple of my business partners know I'm still alive and well. I was also following up on certain people who tried to take advantage of today's incident. There were quite a few of them actually. It took a while to identify all of them. Recon is _suuuuch_ hard work. Also, I wanted to be on the safe side and wait for all the heat to boil over."

Namie blinked slowly, "I see."

Izaya shrugged off his coat and placed it on a hanger and hung it back up. "So did I get any visitors while I was gone?"

His secretary smiled briefly before sobering up.

It perturbed him to see her so…_expressive_; she wasn't one to smile for little things. And she smiled twice within the span of five minutes. Something was wrong.

"Only a few. There were a couple of Shiki's men came to see if you were in. They didn't believe me when I said you weren't here. So I let them look around the apartment. Naturally, I was monitoring as they did so. It was the usual three guys Takeda, Kusanagi and Ginoza. They left nothing, and took nothing."

That news wasn't nearly as upsetting as he expected it to be. He knew those three well, and their backgrounds. They were trustworthy to the Awakusu-kai, and very unlikely to have hidden intentions about entering his apartment. Regardless, he would do a thorough sweep through his apartment to make sure there was nothing out of place to be on the safe side.

The informant nodded, "Is that all?"

Namie seemed to mull something over in her mind, "No, I'd also like to add that you really are despicable to do something like this to someone you haven't met. Or someone who hasn't done anything at all" she said as she gestured to her laptop, presumably open to the Dollars forum message that he posted.

"Ouch, that bites," he replied in mock hurt, only too accustomed to receiving such venomous words. "I can only assume that you are referring to the untimely death of my double correct?" he responded with a smile, "I can assure you, it was a perfectly reasonable thing to do, Namie-chan."

Her eyebrow ticked at the cutesy way he addressed her, "How so?"

He hummed thoughtfully as he walked towards the bookshelf, placing his laptop down on a table as he passed it. "Have you heard of the old folklore of the doppelganger?"

"The belief that when everyone is born, there is another is an exact duplicate of themselves born elsewhere?"

Izaya laughed, "That's part of it." He dragged his finger across the spines of books on the shelf, stopping on one in particular. He pulled it out of its spot and casually flipped through it, "Doppelgänger, the German word for ghostly double or double walker. In history there are many records of people encountering their doppelganger and they subsequently fall ill or die. It's even a reoccurring trope in fiction as well, when a character would meet their doppelganger they would eventually fight to the death over their identity. Hence, this phenomenon has always been considered an omen of death. Though this phenomenon is usually a supernatural one, in our case it seems more sci-fi doesn't it? Hahaa!"

He continued to talk, though his eyes were on the book his was holding, they moved across the page as if he was skimming through the sentences. Though, Namie doubted he was actually reading the book.

"So you set him up for death to satisfy a trope?"

Izaya's eyes lifted off the page to meet hers and he smiled, "Now, give me a little more credit, of course there's more to it than that. Let's see how I can put it into perspective for you…think about how that guy must have been living. From what Shingen told me, he hasn't left his laboratory or seen the outside world. He even told me that guy showed his displeasure of his living conditions more than once. In short, he felt trapped, hopeless, caged; which is why he ran away in the first place"

"Now think of this; he's free now, and he loves it. But his new problem is how long can he keep this 'freedom'? There are people looking to capture him again. But luckily, he finds that there is another person, me in this instance, who looks exactly like him. Isn't that convenient? He can just kill me, and take my place, and live on as Orihara Izaya. It would only be natural for him to consider something like that. He would be free from his old imprisoned life, and free to live however he wanted. No one would know the difference, right? Roppi-kun could hide right under their noses and no one would be any the wiser."

Despite describing his own death, Izaya coolly explained it in a flippant tone.

"He might not think of it immediately, but after experiencing life outside, he would grow obsessed with freedom. And sooner or later he will do whatever it takes too keep it, knowing that he might be captured one day. Days, weeks, maybe months later, he will consider it as his best and easiest chance for a normal life. To take mine, and live it as his own."

Namie closed her eyes in comprehension, "So in order to prevent that from happening, you struck him first."

Her boss nodded approvingly, happy that she caught on.

"_Die beste Verteidigung ist der Angriff._" Izaya supplied in a foreign dialect. "The German saying that roughly translates to 'the best defence is a good offence'. My method of dealing with the so called omen of death, _die doppelgänger_."

He chuckled as he returned the book back to its proper place, "Truth be told, I was rather disappointed that he was killed so easily. My goal was to strike first before he even thought about crossing me, and give him a little show of what I'm capable of to deter him from getting any foolish ideas, that's all."

"I see…has anyone ever told you that you're unbelievably paranoid?"

The informant turned away from the bookshelf at the sound of a third voice that came from the sitting area, his hand instinctively dove in his pocket and he retrieved his knife. The unannounced guest sat upright to peer at him over the headrest of his couch.

Izaya froze.

"_You_…"

Of all the faces he wasn't expecting to see, his own face was definitely on the top of the list.

Roppi eyed him before his gaze dropped to the knife in his hand. He lifted his own hands lazily "Relax, I come in peace."

"I find that hard to believe," Izaya retorted, eyes narrowed, "What is the meaning of this Namie? What is he doing here?"

Namie was openly smirking at the scene in front of her. She was having too much fun with this. "Well, when he came in I mistook him for you. I thought he was dead like Kida Masomi reported. So I assumed it was just you who returned home and went to take a nap on the couch. An honest mistake."

"…And how was it that he entered my apartment."

"He knocked the door, and I opened the door for him of course."

"Namie…don't you think I'd have the keys to my own apartment?"

"Oh yes…how silly of me" she didn't look embarrassed at all, only pleased with herself that she managed to aggravate him for a change.

"And while we were talking, you didn't think to mention he was here?"

"Not particularly…no"

Forget the raise. He was deducting her pay for this.

Namie rose from her seat and collected her bag, "Relax, I knew it wasn't you when he came in. I even spoke with him for a while; he doesn't seem to have any intention to hurt you either. Feel free to talk it out with him if you like." She headed for the door and put on her shoes, "I trust I can leave now? It's late, and Seiji is coming over tomorrow. I need to prepare. I'm sure you can handle yourself with an unarmed, injured man."

With that last bit said, she left the apartment, leaving the two men alone.

Silence stretched between them, thick and heavy with unease.

Roppi seemed content to sit on the couch, taking in Izaya's form. He was unsure of how to approach the situation, he came here to meet Izaya, but now he doubted if this was a good decision at all.

Izaya surveyed Roppi with apprehension, and a little bit of wonder. It was eerie how similar they looked. His face was the same rounded shape and pointed chin. He had all the sharp features that he had, the thin lips, the arched eyebrows, even the nose was exactly the same size and shape as his. He wore his hair a little longer and parted it at a different spot than he did. It was hardly noticeable, but a detail-orientated man such as Izaya picked up on that little difference immediately.

Roppi's eyes were his own, a deep and rich brown that looked like a twinkling ruby if the light hit it just right. But they were completely different as well. Where Izaya's were sharp, yet merrily rounded, almost feline that glinted with mischief, Roppi's were hard along the edges, heavy-lidded, not quite uninterested, but seemed dull and fatigued.

'_Probably my fault_' Izaya thought with a hint of satisfaction, before breaking the silence, "Well… we do get to meet after all. Artificial me."

"I prefer to go by Roppi if you don't mind" he responded, only looking slightly peeved, but more tired.

"How are you already able to move? Or alive for that matter. If we weren't identical, I'd be convinced Shingen made you out of Shizu-chan."

Roppi lifted his left shoulder in a shrug, "I'm still wounded, but I can get around. I'm used to this kind of injury. Shingen made it so that I can still handle moving in this condition. A survival advantage he says."

"Hoh" Izaya hummed, "…and how exactly did he manage that?"

Roppi glanced at Izaya, "If Shingen didn't tell you my situation, then there's probably a reason. So I don't see why I should tell you. Besides, it wouldn't do me good to tell my 'doppelganger' my weaknesses, you know, in case you attempt to 'show what you're capable of' again."

Izaya smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes, "Cheeky aren't you. Just like Shingen said you'd be. In any case, I've already mentioned that I'm not interested in killing you. I'm more interested in watching you struggle to adapt with society."

"That's good to hear. Just letting you know, you're probably not capable of killing me anyway. Not by yourself at least…no offence."

If that statement bothered or irritated Izaya, he didn't show it, "So is that why you're here? To attempt to intimidate me? Or is there another reason?"

Roppi reached into his coat pocket and retrieved a folded piece of paper and offered it to his counterpart who looked at it puzzled, but accepted it nonetheless.

"Shingen said he was completely against me coming here. But, I think this is my best option, so I insisted. Besides I've always wanted to meet you" Roppi supplied as Izaya unfolded the paper and began reading.

_Izaya,_

_I hope Roppi found it to your place safe. I'll have you know that I'm fairly certain that you had a hand in today's circus, and because of that you can expect that I will not be paying you for your services. Besides, he managed to find his own way back; therefore I don't think you deserve the credit anyways. If you're wondering why he is there now, it's a ridiculous request of his. I have no idea why he wants to stay with a guy like you, but he was very insistent on the idea. So, I'll be leaving him in your care._

"Oy oy, what's this about staying with me? Who said I'd allow something like that?"

Roppi rested his chin on the headrest of the couch, crossing his arms in front, "Just keep reading"

Izaya was willing to bet that he was hiding an amused smile behind his folded arms. Irritated, he continued to read.

_I hope you realize that by allowing you to take in Roppi-kun, I am entrusting you with my secret. I expect you to protect it, like I am protecting yours. You wouldn't want me to give a certain someone a 'head's up' on some things you've been hiding from her either right? So out of mutual respect, I hope you will have no problems with housing Roppi-kun._

_Shingen_

"Keh…It seems that I can't refuse. How underhanded." Izaya muttered reluctantly. Shingen was threating him to take in Roppi in turn for keeping the head a secret from Celty.

He hated it when other people had dirt on him to manipulate him. It was the second time he used that piece of information to threaten him with today. But at least, this way Izaya had Roppi to use against Shingen, while Shingen had the head to use against Izaya. They were on equal footing now. Neither of them would speak of the other's secret as long as it runs the risk of revealing their own.

"I don't understand why you want to live with me though" Izaya said, directing his words to Roppi.

"I thought it was the only logical option, since we're practically family. Having the same blood and all. Plus, I've always wanted to meet the man who gave his cells to make me. I'm still curious to know what you're like."

"Touching, but not what I meant. You hate me right? You must, after everything I put you through today."

"No, not really," Roppi said simply, "_You_ didn't put me through anything. Even though you instigated it, it was the humans that blew the whole ordeal out of proportion with their greed. I saw the message you wrote, if that's all it took for them to come at me at full throttle, then humans are even more stupid than I originally thought."

Izaya blinked in surprise.

Then he pursed his twitching lips, "Pfft…" his cheeks puffed out in attempt to contain the laughter bubbling up within him, but he couldn't hold it in, "Hahahahahaaaa! AHAHAHAAA!"

Roppi watched his donor openly laugh as he wrapped his own arms around his waist, clutching his sides. He wasn't exactly sure what was so funny, but he assumed it was a good thing that he managed to put him in such a good mood.

"Ha ha, you're an interesting one, I'll give you that! Haa, a real piece of work!" Izaya wiped a tear away from his eye, "Fine, fine. You can stay. In fact, I insist. It's easier for me to keep an eye on you that way. I'd rather have you under my supervision, so I know what kind of trouble you're getting my face into."

The other raven nodded and even managed to crack a smile. He was glad he could stay with his donor and learn a little more about him.

For he was very interested about the man who was able to go toe to toe with Heiwajima Shizuo, and live to tell the tale.

* * *

**[Author's Note] Arrival to Ikebukuro Arc, complete.**

**Sorry for the long wait. I made the chapter a little longer as an apology gift (yet I had to cut out the last two scenes because it was getting too long). I had to put this story on hold for a while for exams and job searching and other boring life hurdles. I've got a little break from that, so now I need to get back into the creative writing mindset. **

**Oh man, the feels I got writing this chapter. The FEELS. I tried to cover it up by added a few silly laughs, but gosh, it's Roppi "coming of age" chapter and the last time Shingen will be in the picture. I've really grown attached to the way they interact, I'm glad I made them see eye to eye in the end. I'm going to miss Shingen ;A;…then again I'm really looking forward to writing Roppi and Izaya's dynamic, I can tell it's going to be fun!**

**And so begins a whole new arc! Look forward to it! I know I am xD**

**I've added a "News Feed" section at the top of my profile, where I update progress on future chapters. You can stop by there and check on how far along the next chapter will be. Just something I'm trying out to keep me on track. If it's not working out I'll remove it (Since I'll be going to the Anime North Con this weekend, there won't be any progress until Monday)**

**Until next time,**

**SNU**


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